An international analysis of dual careers support services for junior athletes in Europe

Despite Dual Careers (sports and education) and mobility of students being priorities in the funding policies of the European Commission, migrating student-athletes report severe challenges and decreased performance or dropouts at sport and academic levels. The objective of this study was to depict and assess the perceptions on challenges, support services, and their effectiveness in consideration of specific characteristics of participants and migrations. Based on a meta-synthesis and previous findings, a 50-items questionnaire was developed and completed by 245 student-athletes in 5 European countries. Participants with Dual Careers migration experience (n = 140) were considered for analyses of qualitative and quantitative (ordinal 5pt-Likert-scaled and metric) data on the Dual Career status, migration characteristics, received services, and outcomes. Chi-square-tests were conducted for differences between countries and genders at a significance level of p < .05. Country-related differences were found for experiences and intentions to migrate (X2(12) = 50.52, p<0.001), duration of the migration (X2(16) = 38.20, p = 0.001), financial support (X2(8) = 29.87, p<0.001), and decreased performances in academics (X2(16) = 56.12, p<0.001) and sports (X2(16) = 31.79, p = 0.01). Gender-related difference emerged in financial support (X2(4) = 10.68, p = 0.03), duration of the migration (X2(4) = 14.56, p = 0.01), and decreased academic performance (X2(4) = 10.57, p = 0.03). Tutoring and counselling support was ranked as the most effective support, especially when received from the academic field (4.0±1.0 pt) and others (4.1±0.8 pt), followed by online services from sport and academic sectors (both: 3.9±0.9 pt). Considering the pervasive globalization of sport and education, Dual Career migration can contribute to the development of a European sport culture. The high ratio of migrating student-athletes underlines the relevance of migrations in the field of Dual Careers. This study contributes to the literature by adding insights on practices, challenges, supports, and outcomes perceived by student-athletes migrating in Europe. Moreover, country- and gender-related differences support the consideration of specific characteristics and reveal critical factors in specific target groups. The findings contribute to identifying requirements and effective support measures in Dual Career migrations and can be used to improve support services.

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Domain Specific Life Satisfaction in the Dual Careers of Junior Elite Football Players: The Impact of Role Strain

Journal of Clinical Sport Psychology ◽

10.1123/jcsp.2017-0011 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 12 (3) ◽

pp. 302-315 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Fleur E.C.A. van Rens ◽

Erika Borkoles ◽

Damian Farrow ◽

Remco C.J. Polman

Keyword(s):

Life Satisfaction ◽

Role Strain ◽

Holistic Approach ◽

Football Players ◽

Life Domains ◽

Domain Specific ◽

Junior Athletes ◽

Australian Rules Football ◽

Dual Careers ◽

The Impact

Using a holistic perspective on athlete talent development, this study examines the impact of role strain on the life satisfaction in various life domains of junior elite Australian Rules Football players. One hundred and twelve talent-identified male Australian Rules Football players (Mage = 16.8; SD = .71) completed measures of role strain and multidimensional life satisfaction. The results indicated that role strain explained twelve to twenty-four percent of the variance in life satisfaction in the players’ life domains. Experiences of role strain related to the players’ dual careers were associated with decreased life satisfaction in sport, friendships, family, yourself, and global life satisfaction domains. Situations in which the players perceived that their abilities were underutilized were also negatively associated with life satisfaction across various life domains. This study thus evidences the importance of a domain specific, holistic approach to investigate the life satisfaction in junior athletes’ dual careers.

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Dual career of junior athletes: Identifying challenges, available resources, and roles of social support providers (Carrera dual de deportistas junior: identificando retos, recursos disponibles, y roles de apoyo social)

Cultura_Ciencia_Deporte ◽

10.12800/ccd.v16i47.1673 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 16 (47) ◽

Keyword(s):

Student Athletes ◽

Support Staff ◽

Dual Career ◽

Support Providers ◽

Junior Athletes ◽

Apoyo Social ◽

Dual Careers ◽

Barriers And Challenges ◽

General Aspects ◽

The Eu

Balancing between two different commitments, sport and education, has been demonstrated as one of the significant challenges for dual career athletes, namely student athletes. Since EU guidelines on dual careers of athletes was published, a number of studies have been conducted on the topic of dual careers. One of the Erasmus+ Sport projects, Dual Career for Junior Athletes (DCJA), has been designed to identify three main aspects regarding the dual career of junior athletes, aged between 15 and 19-year-old: the barriers and challenges, resources and skills, and the roles and views of the support staff of the student-athletes. Applying a two-fold methodology based on the literature and the EU funded projects reviews, the findings show that there is a clear need of further research on the topic of dual career focused on the junior athletes’ needs, coping strategies development, and general aspects of their life. The findings in this study will inform following studies of DCJA project to fill the research gaps identified. === El equilibrio entre dos compromisos diferentes, el deporte y la educación, ha sido evidenciado como uno de los desafíos importantes para los deportistas de carrera dual, denominados estudiantes-deportistas. Desde que se publicaron las directrices de la UE sobre la carrera dual de los deportistas, se han realizado una serie de investigaciones sobre el topic de la carrera dual. Uno de los proyectos Erasmus + Sport, Dual Career for Junior Athletes (DCJA) ha sido diseñado para identificar tres aspectos relativos a la Carrera Dual del deportista junior, comprendidos entre 15-19 años: las barreras y retos, los recursos y habilidades, y los roles y puntos de vista del personal de apoyo de los estudiantes-deportistas. Mediante una metodología de investigación doble, basada en la revisión de la literatura y de los proyectos financiados a nivel europeo, se obtuvieron hallazgos que muestran que existe una clara necesidad de más investigación en el tema de la carrera dual centrada en las necesidades, desarrollo de capacidades de afrontamiento y aspectos generales de la vida de los deportistas junior. Los hallazgos de este estudio sentarán la base para los siguientes estudios del proyecto DCJA para solventar los vacíos de investigación identificados.

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A Typology of Caregiving Situations and Service Use in Family Carers of Older People in Six European Countries

GeroPsych ◽

10.1024/1662-9647/a000031 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 24 (1) ◽

pp. 5-18 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Mirko Di Rosa ◽

Christopher Kofahl ◽

Kevin McKee ◽

Barbara Bień ◽

Giovanni Lamura ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Health Services ◽

Older People ◽

Support Services ◽

Family Caregiving ◽

Service Use ◽

European Countries ◽

Limited Resources ◽

Family Carers ◽

Policy Initiatives ◽

Typology Of Care

This paper presents the EUROFAMCARE study findings, examining a typology of care situations for family carers of older people, and the interplay of carers with social and health services. Despite the complexity of family caregiving situations across Europe, our analyses determined the existence of seven “caregiving situations,” varying on a range of critical indicators. Our study also describes the availability and use of different support services for carers and care receivers, and carers’ preferences for the characteristics of support services. Our findings have relevance for policy initiatives in Europe, where limited resources need to be more equitably distributed and services should be targeted to caregiving situations reflecting the greatest need, and organized to reflect the preferences of family carers.

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Associations Between Informal Caregivers’ Burden and Educational Level

GeroPsych ◽

10.1024/1662-9647/a000199 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 32 (1) ◽

pp. 19-29 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Monika Oedekoven ◽

Katja Amin-Kotb ◽

Paul Gellert ◽

Klaus Balke ◽

Adelheid Kuhlmey ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Support Services ◽

Educational Level ◽

Autonomy Support ◽

Population Survey ◽

Multivariate Analyses ◽

Informal Caregivers ◽

Loss Of Self ◽

Perceived Burden ◽

Result Show ◽

Care Situation

Abstract. We investigated the association between the education of informal caregivers’ (IC) and their physical and mental burden. We hypothesized that better-educated IC would have more resources available to manage the care situation and as a result show lower perceived burden. We conducted a population survey of 6,087 German residents aged 18+ years, 966 of whom reported to be IC. Results show that IC felt more often mentally than physically burdened. In the multivariate analyses, higher-educated IC did not have lower odds of feeling physically burdened than lower-educated IC, though they did have increased odds of feeling mentally burdened. The higher perceived mental burden of higher-educated IC may be related to fear of loss of self-fulfilment and autonomy. Support services should consider the mental burden of higher-educated IC and tailor their interventions accordingly.

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A Systematic Review of User Expectations and Outcomes of Crisis Support Services

Crisis ◽

10.1027/0227-5910/a000745 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 1-9

Author(s):

Kelly Mazzer ◽

Megan O'Riordan ◽

Alan Woodward ◽

Debra Rickwood

Keyword(s):

Systematic Review ◽

Support Services ◽

Text Message ◽

Positive Outcomes ◽

Online Chat ◽

Online Databases ◽

Personal Crisis ◽

Crisis Support ◽

User Expectations ◽

Behavioural Sciences

Abstract. Background: Crisis support services play an important role in providing free, immediate access to support people in the community experiencing a personal crisis. Recently, services have expanded from telephone to digital modalities including online chat and text message services. This raises the question of what outcomes are being achieved for increasingly diverse service users across different modalities. Aims: This systematic review aimed to determine the expectations and outcomes of users of crisis support services across three modalities (telephone, online chat, and text message/SMS). Method: Online databases (CINAHL, MEDLINE, PsycARTICLES, PsycINFO, Psychological and Behavioural Sciences Collection) and gray literature were searched for studies measuring expectations and outcomes of crisis support services. Results: A total of 31 studies were included in the review, the majority of which were telephone-based. Similar expectations were found for telephone and online chat modalities, as well as consistently positive outcomes, measured by changes in emotional state, satisfaction, and referral plans. Limitations/Conclusion: There is a paucity of consistent outcome measures across and within modalities and limited research about users of text message/SMS services.

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