Gymnastik- och idrottshögskolan, GIH

Participation in organized sports is generally regarded as a highly valued activity, particularly due to its perceived potential to foster positive youth development, as well as its contribution to psychological and social health benefits. This is primarily attributed to the fact that sports provide opportunities not only for physical activity but also for the development of essential life skills, such as teamwork, goal-setting, managing adversity, conflict resolution, emotional regulation, and the ability to push personal boundaries.

Previous studies have shown that runners differ in terms of sociodemographic characteristics. However, given the increase in participants at running races, the question arises whether these sociodemographic differences have been erased and if the second running boom has democratized running. An online questionnaire was sent to a randomized sample (n = 2378) of finishers at the 2017 Gothenburg half marathon (Göteborgsvarvet). The self-reported sociodemographic variables were then compared to Swedish national averages. The results show that Göteborgsvarvet finishers are considerably more likely to be men, well-educated and employed, compared to the general population of Sweden. This study indicates, therefore, that half marathon finishers are still distinctly different in terms of sociodemographic variables compared to the general population. These differences need to be taken into consideration when conclusions are drawn concerning running and its health effects on runners.

The aims of the study were to: (a) analyse the re-selection patterns in European youth basketball national teams, and (b) investigate how the chance of re-selection is influenced by the initial selection age and relative age of the players, as well as the long-term performance of the country at the youth level. The sample consisted of 8362 basketball players (5038 men, 3324 women) born 1988-1997 who have participated in at least one U16, U18 or U20 European youth basketball championship between 2004 and 2017. The results from the survival analysis showed that around 75% of male and 80% of female players participating in a championship were re-selected the following year. Also, initial selection age, relative age effect, and the country long-term performance influenced the re-selection rates, with relationships being different between men and women. To conclude, the results of the present study show that the re-selection process by which players progress in European youth national basketball teams is complex and influenced by several different factors.

Sport participation for youth with immigrant background is often argued to play an important role for migrant youth integration into their new host society. Although few well sampled longitudinal studies has been conducted. The aim of this study was to study the impact that sport participation has on two integration-related outcomes (problem behaviours and native friends) by using the Swedish version of the longitudinal CILS4EU study. The multi-group latent growth curve models showed that although youth active or starting in sport independent of immigrant background did less problem behaviours and had more native friends than their peers with the same immigrant background that was not engaged in sport. However, the trajectories were very similar and often very close to zero, which makes it difficult to claim that sport participation has any significant impact on integration in the Swedish society.

Elite sport can be stressful, which increases the risk for burnout symptoms to develop. Especially when not balanced with sufficient recovery. To study the burnout–recovery process, eight elite soccer coaches were followed for 10 years. All eight were active elite coaches at the inception of this study and reported elevated emotional exhaustion scores on Maslach’s Burnout Inventory Educators Survey (MBI-ES). The coaches completed MBI-ES three additional times (year 3, 7, and 10), and they were also interviewed on the same occasions. At the 3-year follow-up, seven of the eight coaches reduced their exhaustion scores. The coach presenting with unchanged scores both at the 3 - and 7-year follow-up was the only one still coaching at the elite level. All coaches revealed during the interviews that they struggled to manage their work–life balance well; some worked too many hours, some experienced difficulty in managing conflicting role-demands, and some wrestled with external pressures. Their approach to recovery was, however, similar. Apart from moving away from coaching at the elite level, they unanimously mentioned that they changed their approach to coaching to make recovery possible. They achieved the latter by, for example, increasing control and delegating responsibility. According to our longitudinal results, burnout frequently regarded as an end-state can decrease over time. Provided that decisive action is taken to change situational factors and personal demands. This frequently meant withdrawing from coaching, which in turn explains why coach retention remains a serious challenge for most organizations with teams/athletes competing at the elite level.

In a recent volume of this journal, Schaffran et al. (2019) introduced the Burnout Prevention Questionnaire for Coaches (BPQ-C). Although we recognize the worthwhile efforts of Schaffran et al., we believe that there are several issues associated with this instrument. This commentary aims to expand on why we think the BPQ-C should not currently be used by practitioners and researchers to screen for burnout.

Burnout is a psychosocial construct that has been extensively studied in athletes. Burnout is a significant threat to an athlete’s mental health and increases the risk of dropout from sport (Gustafsson, Madigan, & Lundkvist, 2017). However, little is known about prevalence of clinical-levels of burnout in athletes. This study therefore aimed to estimate the prevalence of athlete burnout based on clinical cut-off scores taken from the Shirom Melamed Burnout Questionnaire (SMBQ). To do so, cut-off scores were converted from the SMBQ to the Athlete Burnout Questionnaire (ABQ). This provided a cut-off score of 3.14. Data were derived from one cross-sectional sample (N = 1,931) and one 10-week longitudinal sample (N = 186; 10 waves). Analyses focused on the physical and emotional exhaustion subscale of the ABQ. In the longitudinal sample, the stability of the cut-offs was examined (i.e., those athletes scoring over 3.14 for over 50% of the time-points, versus those who never scored above 3.14). For the cross-sectional sample, 13% of athletes scored above the clinical cut-off score. For the longitudinal sample, 7.1% of athletes scored above the cut-off on over 50% of occasions, while 77.6% of athletes never scored above the cut-off score on any occasion. The present findings suggest that the estimated prevalence of athlete burnout differs when cross-sectional data are analysed than when longitudinal data are utilised. The findings reiterate that a significant proportion of athletes are at risk of burnout and that prevalence seem to be similar comparing with student- and working populations.

Det här kapitlet syftar till att beskriva och diskutera vad vi vet om idrott och integration utifrån två aspekter. Den första aspekten är att undersöka hur idrotten som integrationsarena fungerar rent praktiskt genom att presentera statistik på hur det ser ut i Sverige och världen vad det gäller idrottsutövande bland invandrarungdomar. Den andra aspekten är att diskutera vilka effekter idrottande egentligen har för främjandet av olika integrationsfrämjande delar som till exempel minskande problembeteenden, mer jämn fördelning av vänner med olika kulturell bakgrund och ökad förståelse för den kultur man flyttat till. Gällande andelen idrottande ungdomar finns det en relativt tydlig skillnad mellan ungdomar med invandrarbakgrund och de med starkare anknytning till landet de bor i. Både i Sverige och internationellt är färre invandrarungdomar idrottsaktiva. Skillnaderna minskar dock ju längre man varit i landet både för första generationens invandrarungdomar och andra/tredjegenerationens ungdomar. Skillnaderna är större och utjämningen är mindre och tar längre tid för invandrarflickor än för invandrarpojkar. Positivt är att idrott verkar ha effekter på integrationsrelaterade delar som avvikande beteenden, mental hälsa och vän-nätverk även om de statistiska effekterna ofta är små. Dessutom visar statistiken att idrottsrörelsen både i Sverige och internationellt inte lyckas inkludera ungdomar med invandrarbakgrund i sin verksamhet i samma utsträckning som de lyckas bjuda in de med starkare bakgrund i landet. Slutligen diskuteras kunskaperna om idrott och integration utifrån hur idrottsrörelsen skulle kunna utveckla sin verksamhet i dessa frågor och exempel på bra integrationsprogram i Sverige tas upp.

Two common objectives in sport and exercise psychology research are to determinate if there is a relationship between two or more variables or if an intervention is effective or not (i.e., casual effects). Based on results obtained from a research study we are often eager to conclude that there are strong (or weak) evidence for the proposed relationship or intervention. This procedure might seem straightforward but there are several problems and critical issues that influence researcher’s assessments of the level of evidence. Unfortunately many researchers in the sport and exercise psychology field does not acknowledge these problems and critical issues when interpreting study results, which leads to flawed conclusions about the level of evidence (Ivarsson & Andersen, 2016). In this article we will: (a) highlight what we believe are some of the most critical issues in the sport and exercise psychology field for assessing the level of evidence, and (b) provide suggestions for how to deal with these issues.