Investigating Possible Effects from a One-Year Coach-Education Program

Understanding Youth Sport Coaches' Perceptions of Evidence-Based Injury-Prevention Training Programs: A Systematic Literature Review

OBJECTIVE

To systematically review and summarize the knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and contextual perceptions of youth sport coaches toward injury-prevention training programs by using the Theoretical Domains Framework to guide the organization of results.

DATA SOURCES

Systematic searches of PubMed and Google Scholar were undertaken in November 2021.

STUDY SELECTION

The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses protocol was followed. Results were limited to full-text articles that were published in peer-reviewed journals and printed in English. Additional studies were added after a citation search of included studies. Studies were eligible for inclusion if researchers evaluated youth sport coaches' knowledge, beliefs, contextual perceptions, or all 3 of anterior cruciate ligament injury-prevention training programs.

DATA EXTRACTION

Data charting was performed by 1 author and confirmed by a separate author.

DATA SYNTHESIS

Of the 1194 articles identified, 19 were included in the final sample. Among articles in which researchers assessed knowledge (n = 19), coaches' awareness of the existence and components of injury-prevention training programs was inconsistent. Among articles in which researchers assessed beliefs (n = 19), many coaches had positive attitudes toward injury-prevention training programs, but few believed youth athletes are at a high risk of injury. Among articles in which researchers assessed contextual perceptions (n = 13), many coaches did not feel they had access to information about injury-prevention training programs and cited a lack of time, space, support, and other resources as barriers to implementation.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings support the need for programs, protocols, and policies to enhance knowledge of and support for youth sport coaches who wish to implement injury-prevention training programs. A gap exists in the research about addressing the needs of youth sport coaches in the United States high school sports setting. The use of multilevel implementation science frameworks (such as the Theoretical Domains Framework) will be beneficial for identifying constructs that affect implementation and developing train-the-trainer programming to meet the needs of individual youth sport coaches.

Effects of a Mentor Program for Coaches on the Coach-Athlete Relationship

The present study was designed to explore the effects of a one-year coach education program on coaches’ perceptions of their communication skills and co-orientation of their coach-athlete relationships. The study was designed with an experimental group and a control group. The experiment group consisted of 66 coaches (and 295 athletes) who received formal mentoring and the control group consisted of 41 coaches (and 148 athletes) who did not receive any mentoring. Data were analysed using structural equation modelling with autoregressive cross-lagged analysis. Results from the self-reported questionnaire at pre-test and post-test showed that the reciprocity of the coach-athlete relationships was not statistically significant. However, coaches’ experience of change in attention skills from the pre-test to the post-test positively predicted changes in their own perception of the coach-athlete relationship, whereas this association was not significant in the athletes’ perceptions. Moreover, the coach education programme increased coaches’ perception of their relational bonds with their athletes, but this increase did not correspond with an increase in athletes’ perception of the relational bonds with their coach. Practical implications and suggestions for further research are discussed in light of these findings.