Youth Sport Participation Trends Across Europe: Implications for Policy and Practice.

Purpose: Despite the known health and wellbeing benefits of taking part in sport for children and adolescents, it is reported that sports participation declines during adolescence. The purpose of this study was to explore current organized youth sport participation rates across Europe for both males and females and update current understanding. Method: Sport participation registration data was collected for 18 sports from 27 countries. In total, participation data was collected from over 5 million young people from Under 8s (U8s) to Under 18s (U18s). Differences in the participation rates between age categories were investigated using a generalized linear mixed effects model. Results: Overall, males were four times more likely to participate in organised youth sport than females' participants, with this trend apparent across all age categories and across most sports. There was a significant decrease across sports in participation rates for males during adolescence from U14-U16 and U16-U18. There was a significant decrease in participation rates for females from U14-U16 for most sports except but an increase in participation rates from U16-U18 for 12 out of 18 sports. Soccer (1262%), wrestling (391%) and boxing (209%) were the sports that had greater male sport participation rates. In contrast, dance sports (86%) and volleyball (63%) had more female participants than males. This research shows male sports participation is significantly greater than female in youth sport across Europe. Conclusion: Furthermore, findings showed that for both male and female participants, participation rates increased from U8-U14 for the majority of sports followed by reduced participation rates during adolescence. Findings of this research can be used by national governing bodies and sporting organizations to inform youth sport participation initiatives.

Associations Between Motor Competence and Physical Activity, Physical Fitness and Psychosocial Characteristics in Adolescents: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Motor competence is an integral component of the health and performance of youth. Numerous studies support the hypothesis that motor competence interacts with perceived motor competence and physical fitness during childhood to induce positive (e.g. healthy weight status) or negative (e.g. reduced physical activity engagement) trajectories. Yet, while adolescence is a key period of rapid growth and maturation, no systematic reviews and meta-analyses have examined the association between motor competence and physical activity, physical fitness and psychosocial characteristics solely within adolescents. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to (1) analyse the scientific literature evaluating associations between motor competence and physical activity, physical fitness and/or psychosocial characteristics amongst adolescents; (2) evaluate the associations between motor competence and physical activity, physical fitness characteristics and/or psychosocial characteristics amongst adolescents; and (3) investigate the impact of moderator variables (i.e., age, sex, type of motor competence assessment) on the associations. METHODS: A systematic search of electronic databases was conducted, followed by a qualitative synthesis of study methods. Random-effects meta-analyses were performed to establish the magnitude and orientation of pooled correlation coefficients between motor competence and physical activity, physical fitness and psychosocial characteristics of adolescents, whilst considering potential moderators (i.e., age, sex, type of motor competence assessment). RESULTS: Sixty-one studies were included, totalling 22,256 adolescents. Twenty-seven different assessments of motor competence were used, with 31 studies utilising product-orientated (i.e. outcome) motor competence assessments. Meta-analyses of 43 studies showed that motor competence was positively associated with physical activity (r = 0.20 to 0.26), some physical fitness characteristics (e.g. muscular strength, cardiovascular endurance; r = 0.03 to 0.60) and psychosocial characteristics (r = 0.07 to 0.34), and inversely associated with weight status (r = - 0.36 to - 0.10), speed (r = - 0.31) and agility (r = - 0.37 to 0.41). Associations with flexibility were unclear. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this systematic review and meta-analysis support the hypothesised interactions of motor competence with physical activity (positive), physical fitness (positive except for weight status, speed and agility) and psychosocial characteristics (positive) in adolescence. However, methodological approaches vary considerably (e.g. variety of motor competence assessments utilised), with limitations of the current literature including an inadequate assessment of motor competence, a lack of longitudinal observations and a failure to account for biological maturation. Future research assessing associations between motor competence and physical activity, physical fitness and psychosocial characteristics of adolescents should include longitudinal observations of a combined motor competence assessment (i.e. process and product) and account for biological maturation. Improved evaluation using these recommendations could provide more accurate data, leading to more targeted interventions to improve adolescents' physical and psychosocial outcomes. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: CRD42021233441 (PROSPERO ID).

Evaluating the impact of injury prevention interventions in child and adolescent sports using the RE-AIM framework and CERT: A systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Participation in sport is a popular pastime for children and adolescents that improves their physical health, mental health and motor skills. Musculoskeletal injuries are a relatively common downside of sports participation and can have negative long-term consequences. Injury prevention programmes have demonstrated effectiveness in child and adolescent sports, provided compliance is adequate. However, little is known about the factors which relate to their impact on the wider community and whether the prevention programmes have been adopted and maintained in the long-term. The objective of this review was to assess the current literature on exercise-based injury prevention interventions in child and adolescent sports (aged under 19 years) against the 'Reach', 'Effectiveness', 'Adoption', 'Implementation', 'Maintenance' (RE-AIM) framework and Consensus of Exercise Reporting Template (CERT), to ascertain level of reporting for the components which relate to external validity. METHODS: Seven electronic databases; PubMed, Medline, SPORTDiscus, PsycINFO, CINAHL, Scopus and The Cochrane Library, were searched from date of inception to July 2022 using the themes of: 'Child and Adolescent', 'Sport', 'Injury' and 'Prevention'. Eligibility criteria included: Experimental trial design, exercise-based intervention programmes, primary outcome of injury incidence and participants aged under 19 years. Two reviewers assessed each trial independently against the RE-AIM model dimension items checklist (RE-AIM MDIC) and Consensus on Exercise Reporting Template (CERT) before reaching a consensus on reporting. RESULTS: Forty-five unique trials met the eligibility criteria. Mean reporting level for all studies across the whole RE-AIM MDIC was 31% (SD ± 16.2%, Range 7-77%). The domain of 'effectiveness' was the most comprehensively reported (60%), followed by 'implementation' (48%), 'reach' (38%), 'adoption' (26%) and 'maintenance' (7%). The mean reporting score for the CERT was 50% (SD ± 20.8, range 0-81%). CONCLUSION: Published data on injury prevention in child and adolescent sports is highly focussed on the effectiveness of the intervention, with little consideration given to how it will be adopted and maintained in the long-term. This has led to considerable gaps in knowledge regarding optimal programme implementation, with a lack of data on adoption and maintenance contributing to the gap between research and practice. Future research needs to place greater focus on external validity and consider incorporating the study of implementation and feasibility as part of effectiveness trial design. This approach should provide the data that will help narrow the considerable gap between science and practice. TRIAL REGISTRATION: PROSPERO Registration number CRD42021272847.

Youth motor competence across stages of maturity: Perceptions of physical education teachers and strength and conditioning coaches.

Physical education (PE) teachers and strength and conditioning (S&C) coaches are well placed to develop motor competence within youth populations. However, both groups' perceptions of important motor competencies are relatively unknown, especially when considering stage of maturity. Therefore, this study aimed to 1) present PE teachers and S&C coaches' perceptions of motor competence importance according to stage of maturity; 2) compare perceptions of motor competence between stages of maturity, and between PE teachers and S&C coaches; and 3) explore factors that influence PE teachers and S&C coaches' perceptions of motor competence importance. Via a mixed-method questionnaire, 47 PE teachers (professional experience = 10.3±6.6 years) and 48 S&C coaches (professional experience = 8.6±4.8 years) rated the importance of developing 21 motor competencies across four stages of maturity (childhood, pre-peak height velocity [PHV], circa-PHV, and post-PHV) using a Likert-scale (1 = not important, 5 = very important). Participants also provided open-ended explanations for their perceptions. Frequency analysis indicated that participants rated a broad range of competencies important, with S&C coaches rating more competencies important than PE teachers across all stages of maturity. Mixed-model analysis highlighted several differences in motor competence importance when comparing perceptions between participant groups, and between stages of maturity for PE teachers and S&C coaches. For example, S&C coaches rated strength-based motor competencies less important during childhood (d = -1.83 to -0.43), while PE teachers rated them less important during childhood (d = -2.22 to -0.42) and pre-PHV (d = -1.70 to -0.51) compared to other stages of maturity. Codebook thematic analysis showed several factors that influenced participant's perceptions of motor competence importance (e.g., participants understanding of themselves). The findings suggest that multiple environments may be required to adequately facilitate motor competence development amongst youth. Coach education should target misunderstandings around the risks of strength-based activity during early stages of maturity and the benefits of developing strength-based motor competencies across youth populations.

Developing motor competency in youths: Perceptions and practices of strength and conditioning coaches.

Motor competency is integral to the long-term athletic development of youths. Strength and conditioning (S&C) coaches are recommended to deliver motor competency interventions, yet no studies have investigated their perceptions and practices for developing motor competency in youths. Sixty-seven male, and 4 female S&C coaches completed an initial and follow up questionnaire using a 5-point Likert scale, rating 1] the importance of developing competence, and 2] how frequently they developed competence across 90 motor competencies. Over 55% of S&C coaches reported a broad range of "important" (69/90) and "frequently developed" (48/90) motor competencies. The most important motor competency was "deceleration" (4.9 ± 0.3), whilst "hip hinge (bilateral)" was the most practised (4.4 ± 0.5). S&C coaches targeted upper body pushing and pulling competencies more than their perceived importance, whilst agility (e.g., turning) competencies were targeted less than their importance. Further analysis showed S&C coaches who delivered 3-4 sessions per week targeted 15-18% more competencies compared to ≤ 2 sessions per week. Overall, these findings have strong implications for youth motor competency development including the reflection of important vs. practised competencies, coach education programmes, and consideration for how S&C coaches should seek to optimise motor competency development within youths.

Successful repair of a rare angiographic presentation of coronary artery-coronary sinus fistula.

We report a rare case of right coronary artery-coronary sinus fistula successfully closed through coronary sinus in the second operation following identification of distal branches of the coronary artery. At nine months follow-up, patient is asymptomatic with no recurrence of cardiac murmur. Repeat coronary angiography at one year showed no connection between right coronary artery and coronary sinus. This case report highlights the difficulties in angiographic techniques, identification and interpretation of anatomy of these rare malformations. It also demonstrates the hazards of simple ligation of these anomalous vessels without first understanding the anatomy of the regional coronary circulation. A brief review of literature on coronary artery fistula will be presented.

Absolute Rate Constants for the Reactions of Primary Alkyl Radicals with Aromatic Amines(1).

Hydrogen abstraction from diarylamines (4-X-C(6)H(4))(2)NH [X = H, CH(3), C(8)H(17), CH(3)O, and Br] by the 2-methyl-2-phenylpropyl radical in n-dodecane solution was investigated by thermolysis of 3-methyl-3-phenylbutanoyl peroxide in the presence of various concentrations of the amines. The reaction is a non-chain process in which the 2-methyl-2-phenylpropyl radical and its rearrangement product, the 2-benzylpropan-2-yl radical, abstract hydrogen from both the solvent and the amine. Cross-disproportionation reactions of the rearranged radical led to the formation of significant amounts of beta,beta-dimethylstyrene. Rate constants for hydrogen abstraction by the unrearranged, primary alkyl radical from n-dodecane (k(373K) = 3.5 x 10(3) M(-)(1) s(-)(1)), diphenylamine (k(373K) = 1.3 x 10(6) M(-)(1) s(-)(1)), and the substituted diarylamines were determined from the product yields and the known rate constant for the radical rearrangement. From kinetic experiments with N-deuteriodiphenylamine the deuterium kinetic isotope effect,k(NH)/k(ND), was found to be 2.3 at 373 K.