A systematic review of the qualitative research examining stakeholders’ perceptions of the characteristics of helpful sport and exercise psychology practitioners

Figures & data

Figure 1. PRISMA flowchart of search results.

Figure 2. Percentage of studies meeting each critical appraisal criterion.

Note: CA = clear aims, QMS = qualitative method suitability, DS = design suitability, SR = suitable recruitment, SDC = suitable data collection, PRC = participant relationship considered, EAG = ethical approval granted, RA = rigorous analysis, CF = clear findings, VC = valuable contribution.

Table 1. Design features of the included studies.

Study	Country	Sample	Design	Data collection	Analysis
Orlick & Partington (1987)	Canada	75 Canadian Olympic athletes	Cross-sectional	Semi-structured interviews	Content analysis
Partington & Orlick (1987)	Canada	17 national Olympic coaches	Cross-sectional	Semi-structured interviews	Content analysis
Gould et al. (1991)	USA	Practitioners: 36 males and 8 females (29-67 years old, 42.6 [7.7]); Administrators: 22 males and 4 females (29-56, 39.7[7.4]); Coaches: 41 males and 4 females (24-52 years old, 38.2[7.6]); Athlete: 30 males and 17 females (13-42 years old, 25.1[6.1])	Cross-sectional	Open-ended survey	Unstated
Partington & Orlick (1991)	Canada	19 practitioners who worked with 1988 Olympic athletes and coaches	Cross-sectional	Workshop discussion	Content analysis
Simons & Andersen (1995)	USA	2 female and 9 male highly regarded practitioners, 19-41 years’ experience	Cross-sectional	Semi-structured interviews	Content analysis
Weigand et al. (1999)	USA	Athlete: 12 female collegiate basketballers (20.15 years old [1.14]; 10.67 years’ experience [1.88]); Coach: 1female, 36 years old, 12 year’s experience	Cross-sectional	Survey with open ended questions, structured interview	Content analysis
Pope-Rhodius, study 2 (2000)	UK	Athletes with sport psychology experience: 17 males and 12 females (27.24 [9.59] years old; 1-12 experience with practitioners); Athletes with no sport psychology experience: 16 males and 5 females (24.95 [7.78] years old)	Cross-sectional	Survey	Content analysis
Pope-Rhodius, study 3 (2000)	UK	12 male and 10 female practitioners, 22-53 years old, including trainees, accredited, and nonaccredited individuals	Cross-sectional	Focus groups	Interpersonal Phenomenological Analysis
Statler (2001)	USA	Highly regarded practitioners, 11 males and 1 female, 17-50+ years’ experience, USA and Canada	Cross-sectional	Semi-structured interviews	Inductive content analysis
Dunn & Holt (2003)	Canada	28 male collegiate ice hockey players (22.14 [1.4] years old; 2.19 [1.11] years’ experience)	Cross-sectional	Semi-structured interviews	Thematic content analysis
Anderson et al. (2004)	UK	20 female and 10 male elite UK athletes (22.7 [8.2] years old; 4.9 [3.2] years international experience; 1-9 years’ experience with consultant)	Cross-sectional	Semi-structured interviews	Inductive content analysis
Mapes (2009)	USA	10 male US collegiate wrestlers (20-24 years old)	Longitudinal	In-depth interviews; field notes	Grounded theory
Poczwardowski et al. (2011)	USA	3 female and 7 male North American accomplished practitioners (21 years’ experience)	Cross-sectional	Interviews	Thematic content analysis
Sharp & Hodge (2011)	New Zealand	9 male and 3 female NZ accredited practitioners	Cross-sectional	Semi-structured interviews	Thematic content analysis
Sharp & Hodge (2013)	New Zealand	Practitioners: 2 males (34 and 34 years old; 7 and 10 years’ experience; British and New Zealand Middle Eastern); Coach: 2 males (33 and 46 years old; 3 and 10 years’ experience; New Zealand European and New Zealand Fijian)	Cross-sectional	Semi-structured interviews	Inductive content analysis
Zakrajsek et al. (2013)	USA	5 male and 3 female US collegiate coaches (21-59 years old; 16.5 [10.46] years’ experience)	Cross-sectional	Semi-structured interviews	Consensual Qualitative Research
Barker & Winter (2014)	UK	7 male and 1 female UK youth sport coaches (43 [15.57] years old)	Cross-sectional	Semi-structured interviews	Thematic content analysis
Chandler et al. (2014)	UK	4 male and 1 female sport physicians, 1 male head of services	Cross-sectional	Semi-structured interviews	Thematic content analysis
Sharp & Hodge (2014)	New Zealand	6 male and 3 female elite New Zealand athletes (32.7 [11.05] years old; 17.9 [9.0] years’ experience)	Cross-sectional	Semi-structured interviews	Inductive content analysis
Sharp et al. (2104)	New Zealand	8 male and 2 female accredited practitioners (50.44 years old, 21.67 years’ experience)	Cross-sectional	Semi-structured interviews	Thematic content analysis
Arnold et al. (2015)	UK	12 male and 3 female Olympic level practitioners (15.33 [8.83] years’ experience)	Cross-sectional	Semi-structured interviews	Thematic content analysis
Chandler (2015)	UK	1 male and 2 female accredited practitioners	Longitudinal	Life history and semi-structured interviews; reflective diary	Content analysis
McDougall et al. (2015)	UK	4 male and 2 female, 16.7 years’ experience	Cross-sectional	open-ended interview	Thematic analysis
Sharp et al. (2015)	New Zealand	8 male and 2 female accredited practitioners (50.44 years old; 21.67 years’ experience)	Cross-sectional	semi-structured interviews	Inductive content analysis
Chandler et al. (2016)	UK	5 male and 1 female sport physicians; 7 male coaches	Cross-sectional	Semi-structured interviews	Interpretational qualitative analysis
Cook & Fletcher (2017)	UK	11 male and 1 female (36-59, 47.00[6.59] years old; 18.83 [7.69] years’ experience [4-33 years]) 7 coaches, 5 support staff	Cross-sectional	Semi-structured interviews	Inductive content analysis
Thelwell et al. (2018)	UK	11 youth sport coaches (10 male, 1 female, 36.1 [11.2] years old); 11 parents (8 male, 3 females, 47.5 [5.7] years old)	Cross-sectional	Interviews	Inductive thematic analysis
Tod et al. (2019)	UK	12 male and 9 female registered practitioners (27-46 years old; 4-14 years’ experience)	Cross-sectional	Narrative interviews	Narrative analysis
Woolway & Harwood (2019)	UK	6 male and 1 female employers (41.2 years old [34-57])	Cross-sectional	Semi-structured interviews	Interpersonal Phenomenological Analysis
Verner et al. (2021)	UK	7 probationary sport and exercise psychologists	Cross-sectional	Semi-structured interviews	Interpersonal Phenomenological Analysis
Keegan et al. (2022)	Australia	2 practitioners, 1 coach, 2 managers, 3 athletes	Cross-sectional	Semi-structured interviews	Inductive content analysis
Low et al. (2022)	UK	Elite athlete: 3 males and 5 females (28.5 [8.7] years old; 11.5 [4.1] years’ experience); Practitioners: 4 males and 4 females (34.8 [3.8] years old; 9.3 [3.8] years’ experience)	Cross-sectional	Semi-structured interviews	Reflective thematic analysis
Castello et al. (2022)	USA	9 male and 9 female practitioners (9 experienced: 56.4 [15.8] years old; 26.2 [11.5] years’ experience; 9 novices: 26.4 [4.7] years old; 137 [77.9] hours experience)	Cross-sectional	semi-structured interviews	Thematic analysis

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