Author(s): ROSITO, S., MARINI, S., SARTOR, F., POMPA, D., LOPEZ-FLORES, M., BERTOLLO, M., DE OLIVEIRA, R. , Institution: UNIVERSITY OF GABRIELE D'ANNUNZIO CHIETI-PESCARA , Country: ITALY, Abstract-ID: 1015

Background: Positive Coaching (PC) is a coaching philosophy focusing on developing athletes sports skills along with their social and life skills 1. In the past two decades, PC has proven effective for sport promotion throughout positive development in youth (references). However, to date there is still debate on what exactly PC is and how it is approached within practice. For this reason, the aim of this systematic review, conducted according to the PRISMA 2020 statement, was to investigate the effectiveness of PC educational programs to help practitioners foster positive developmental outcomes in young competitive and recreational athletes.
Methods: The review was preregistered on Open Science Framework (OSF)2. The search was conducted through Web of Science and Scopus including all the sub databases. Keywords were determined using a research question formulated according to the PICO format. Literature screening was conducted by two researchers, plus a third to resolve disagreements. Quality was assessed by the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool.
Results: Out of 135 identified articles, 25 full texts were screened by titles and abstracts. A total of 10 studies matched the eligibility criteria. All studies included were intervention studies with either a quasi-experimental design (50%), observational/longitudinal (30%) or randomized controlled trials (20%). The effectiveness of PC interventions was measured by quantitative (e.g., questionnaires) and qualitative methods. The participants belonged to both competitive and recreational sports levels. The duration of the intervention varied from a 2-hour single session training to a 6-month educational program consistent of 1.5 hour on average per session. Both quantitative and qualitative findings showed that PC training interventions positively affected psychological aspects such as anxiety, motivational climate and coach-athlete relationship.
Conclusion: This systematic review revealed considerable PC training benefits in terms of improving competencies, life skills, enhanced relationships among athletes, and a more open leadership style. According to the present study findings, academic institutions could structure PC training programs, while for the practitioner it creates a practical and structured guide, that facilitates and encourages the application of PC training in the development process of both coaches and their athletes. However, these results should be interpreted with caution, because of the medium quality of the literature analysed in this review.
References:
1. Allen, J., & Cronin, L. D. (2016). A review of the academic research relevant to future developments of Positive Coaching Scotland.
2. Rosito, S. A., de Oliveira, R. F., Bertollo, M., Ghosh, P., Pompa, D., & Lopez-Flores, M. (2024, May 20). Positive Coaching Interventions for Sport Coaches: A Narrative Systematic Review. https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/BUCMK