Sports participation for mental health promotion among socially vulnerable youth: a study protocol

The benefits of participation in organized sports on mental well-being of young people are well-known. However, there is lacking evidence on the relationship between participation in organized sports and positive mental health among socially vulnerable young people. Also, little is known about the mechanisms of sports-based programmes that may promote positive mental health among socially vulnerable young people.

The aim of this PhD study is to investigate the association between participation in organized sports and positive mental health among socially vulnerable children (7-12 years) and adolescents (13-15 years) using multiple methods and several databases.

I will present the study protocol of a PhD study focusing on use of sports participation as a tool for mental health promotion. Article 1 will be a systematic literature review and the data will be gathered from multiple databases. Article 2 is based on the School Health Promotion Study carried out in 2017 (ages 14-15; n = 73 680). Article 3 is based on Icehearts longitudinal study (n = 46 children participating Icehearts programme and n = 180 controls) and article 4 is based on observations (n = 5 Icehearts teams including 50 children and 5 coaches) and interviews (25 Iceheartś children and their 50 parents).

Preliminary findings of the systematic literature review indicate that there is a lack of evidence how to promote mental well-being through sports participation among socially vulnerable young people.

The study will provide valuable knowledge which can be utilized to prevent mental health problems and to promote positive mental health. This knowledge can be used both in municipal and political decision-making, and in developing targeted, sport-based interventions for socially vulnerable children and adolescents in order to reduce health inequalities.

Key messages

Observational data on interventions including perspectives of children is rare but crucial to develop effective programmes for promoting positive mental health among socially vulnerable youth. Knowledge obtained from this study can be used to develop targeted, sport-based interventions for socially vulnerable children and adolescents in order to reduce health inequalities.

Icehearts: Sport-based early support program for children at risk

Icehearts program aims to prevent social exclusion, to promote socio-emotional skills and mental well-being and to provide a secure, long-term adult commitment throughout the child's life using team sport as a tool. The program is facilitated by an Icehearts-mentor providing sports activities as well as support at school and home for a period of 12 years starting at age of 7. Currently, the program is reaching about 500 children in 29 Icehearts teams in Finland. The longitudinal study aims at investigating: (1) the psychosocial well-being and (2) the life course of participating children as well as perceived impact, benefits and challenges of the program. The baseline data was gathered in 2015–2016 by questionnaires and interviews among 7 years old program participants (n = 46) and controls at same age not participating in the program (n = 180), their parents, and teachers. The measures included i.e the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). According to the SDQ-scores assessed by the teachers, two of third among program participants had behavioural difficulties. One-fourth had used mental health services. The parents of program participants reported need for more support for their parenting. The results showed that the Icehearts program is reaching out a target group in need for help and support. Further, the study provides valuable information about the role of a NGO organisation offering long-term and intensive support with the help of sport-based intervention program targeted at vulnerable children. In the presentation, the program, study design and the baseline results are presented in more detail.

Disclosure of interest

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

Biodiversity inventories in high gear: DNA barcoding facilitates a rapid biotic survey of a temperate nature reserve

BACKGROUND

Comprehensive biotic surveys, or 'all taxon biodiversity inventories' (ATBI), have traditionally been limited in scale or scope due to the complications surrounding specimen sorting and species identification. To circumvent these issues, several ATBI projects have successfully integrated DNA barcoding into their identification procedures and witnessed acceleration in their surveys and subsequent increase in project scope and scale. The Biodiversity Institute of Ontario partnered with the rare Charitable Research Reserve and delegates of the 6th International Barcode of Life Conference to complete its own rapid, barcode-assisted ATBI of an established land trust in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada.

NEW INFORMATION

The existing species inventory for the rare Charitable Research Reserve was rapidly expanded by integrating a DNA barcoding workflow with two surveying strategies - a comprehensive sampling scheme over four months, followed by a one-day bioblitz involving international taxonomic experts. The two surveys resulted in 25,287 and 3,502 specimens barcoded, respectively, as well as 127 human observations. This barcoded material, all vouchered at the Biodiversity Institute of Ontario collection, covers 14 phyla, 29 classes, 117 orders, and 531 families of animals, plants, fungi, and lichens. Overall, the ATBI documented 1,102 new species records for the nature reserve, expanding the existing long-term inventory by 49%. In addition, 2,793 distinct Barcode Index Numbers (BINs) were assigned to genus or higher level taxonomy, and represent additional species that will be added once their taxonomy is resolved. For the 3,502 specimens, the collection, sequence analysis, taxonomic assignment, data release and manuscript submission by 100+ co-authors all occurred in less than one week. This demonstrates the speed at which barcode-assisted inventories can be completed and the utility that barcoding provides in minimizing and guiding valuable taxonomic specialist time. The final product is more than a comprehensive biotic inventory - it is also a rich dataset of fine-scale occurrence and sequence data, all archived and cross-linked in the major biodiversity data repositories. This model of rapid generation and dissemination of essential biodiversity data could be followed to conduct regional assessments of biodiversity status and change, and potentially be employed for evaluating progress towards the Aichi Targets of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020.

Delineating species with DNA barcodes: a case of taxon dependent method performance in moths

The accelerating loss of biodiversity has created a need for more effective ways to discover species. Novel algorithmic approaches for analyzing sequence data combined with rapidly expanding DNA barcode libraries provide a potential solution. While several analytical methods are available for the delineation of operational taxonomic units (OTUs), few studies have compared their performance. This study compares the performance of one morphology-based and four DNA-based (BIN, parsimony networks, ABGD, GMYC) methods on two groups of gelechioid moths. It examines 92 species of Finnish Gelechiinae and 103 species of Australian Elachistinae which were delineated by traditional taxonomy. The results reveal a striking difference in performance between the two taxa with all four DNA-based methods. OTU counts in the Elachistinae showed a wider range and a relatively low (ca. 65%) OTU match with reference species while OTU counts were more congruent and performance was higher (ca. 90%) in the Gelechiinae. Performance rose when only monophyletic species were compared, but the taxon-dependence remained. None of the DNA-based methods produced a correct match with non-monophyletic species, but singletons were handled well. A simulated test of morphospecies-grouping performed very poorly in revealing taxon diversity in these small, dull-colored moths. Despite the strong performance of analyses based on DNA barcodes, species delineated using single-locus mtDNA data are best viewed as OTUs that require validation by subsequent integrative taxonomic work.

One species in eight: DNA barcodes from type specimens resolve a taxonomic quagmire

Each holotype specimen provides the only objective link to a particular Linnean binomen. Sequence information from them is increasingly valuable due to the growing usage of DNA barcodes in taxonomy. As type specimens are often old, it may only be possible to recover fragmentary sequence information from them. We tested the efficacy of short sequences from type specimens in the resolution of a challenging taxonomic puzzle: the Elachista dispunctella complex which includes 64 described species with minuscule morphological differences. We applied a multistep procedure to resolve the taxonomy of this species complex. First, we sequenced a large number of newly collected specimens and as many holotypes as possible. Second, we used all >400 bp examine species boundaries. We employed three unsupervised methods (BIN, ABGD, GMYC) with specified criteria on how to handle discordant results and examined diagnostic bases from each delineated putative species (operational taxonomic units, OTUs). Third, we evaluated the morphological characters of each OTU. Finally, we associated short barcodes from types with the delineated OTUs. In this step, we employed various supervised methods, including distance‐based, tree‐based and character‐based. We recovered 658 bp barcode sequences from 194 of 215 fresh specimens and recovered an average of 141 bp from 33 of 42 holotypes. We observed strong congruence among all methods and good correspondence with morphology. We demonstrate potential pitfalls with tree‐, distance‐ and character‐based approaches when associating sequences of varied length. Our results suggest that sequences as short as 56 bp can often provide valuable taxonomic information. The results support significant taxonomic oversplitting of species in the Elachista dispunctella complex.

DNA barcode-based delineation of putative species: efficient start for taxonomic workflows

The analysis of DNA barcode sequences with varying techniques for cluster recognition provides an efficient approach for recognizing putative species (operational taxonomic units, OTUs). This approach accelerates and improves taxonomic workflows by exposing cryptic species and decreasing the risk of synonymy. This study tested the congruence of OTUs resulting from the application of three analytical methods (ABGD, BIN, GMYC) to sequence data for Australian hypertrophine moths. OTUs supported by all three approaches were viewed as robust, but 20% of the OTUs were only recognized by one or two of the methods. These OTUs were examined for three criteria to clarify their status. Monophyly and diagnostic nucleotides were both uninformative, but information on ranges was useful as sympatric sister OTUs were viewed as distinct, while allopatric OTUs were merged. This approach revealed 124 OTUs of Hypertrophinae, a more than twofold increase from the currently recognized 51 species. Because this analytical protocol is both fast and repeatable, it provides a valuable tool for establishing a basic understanding of species boundaries that can be validated with subsequent studies.