Using sport and physical activity interventions to develop life skills and reduce delinquency in youth: a systematic review

Figures & data

Table 1. Predictors of behaviour for those that have experienced 4 or more Adverse Childhood Experiences.

	Compared with people with no ACEs, those with 4+ ACEs are:
4x	More likely to be a high-risk drinker
6x	More likely to have had or caused unintended teenage pregnancy
6x	More likely to smoke e-cigarettes or tobacco
6x	More likely to have had sex under the age of 16
11x	More likely to have smoked cannabis
14x	More likely to have been a victim of violence over the last 12 months
15x	More likely to have committed violence against another person in the last 12 months
16x	More likely to have used crack cocaine or heroine
20x	More likely to have been incarcerated at any point in their lifetime

Figure 1. PRISMA flowchart of the review process.

Table 2. Sports and physical activity programmes to prevent or reduce youth delinquency.

	Primary Interventions
Study	Sample	Theory Base	Programme Content
Armour and Sandford (2013) (UK)	310 boys and 285 girls aged 11–16. Five secondary schools in London characterised by high levels of social deprivation. All took part in an Outward Bound	Positive Youth Development	5-year programme with 4 cohorts to reengage individuals. 150 young people per cohort from multiple schools. Organised programme of activities across the whole year with one week residential for all individuals and one weekend residential for 50 individuals. Volunteers trained by youth workers.
Frazier, Dinizulu, Rusch, Boustani, Mehta, Reitz (2015) (USA)	46 high-risk male and females living in areas with high rate of violence ave. age 13yrs. 7 park staff. After school programme.	Risk and Resilience	3 parks located in high-risk areas (e.g. risky behaviour, gang recruitment) in USA. 10 weeks, 2x week for 90mins. Sessions included didactic instruction, skills demonstration and discussion, role play and sport to provide practice with feedback. Supported by mental health practitioner.
Fuller et al. (2013) (USA)	8 Males aged 10–13, minority ethnicity living in high deprivation area. After school programme	Positive Youth Development (5C’s)	Two 2-hour sessions x 24 weeks. Sport and/or Physical activity sessions, life skills lesson and nutrition lesson. Low ropes course on last session. EDC members of staff.
Gano-Overway et al. (2009) (USA)	395 male and female aged 9–16 M = 11.8, 90% high risk young people from three national youth sports programmes.	Perceived Caring Climate	Free 5-week summer programme. Minimum of 50hrs instructional sports/physical activity and health education. 4hr of sport/PA and 1 hour health education each day with lunch. Staff encouraged to develop caring relationships and character development.
Goodman et al. (2021) (USA)	198 male and female aged 9–15 40.5% female 91.4% Black/African American/ Hispanic. 76.3% low-income. 8 Miami neighbourhoods with high rates of violence. After School programme in 9 parks.	Risk and Resilience (Masten, 2001).	28 weeks. 5 days a week, 3 hours per session. After school programme using sport and recreation. Aimed to facilitate development in communication, emotional literacy and problem solving.
Khoury-Kassabri and Schneider (2018) (Israel)	126 Jewish males aged 13–18 at risk, sports programme.	Positive Youth Development	Youth from 5 sports programme incl. football, horseback riding, basketball, tennis, martial arts. No other information.
Nols et al. (2017) (Belgium)	288 T1 and 160 T2 (44% dropout), Age 12-25, Mage16.5 at risk neighbourhoods. 80 = % male. 6 Sport for Development initiatives.	Self-Efficacy and Self-Esteem	Youth participating in 6 programmes that worked with at risk, working on youth development. Open access with a targeted outreach programme. No other information.
Riley and Anderson-Butcher (2012) (USA)	10 parents from low-income families with child aged 10–12 participating in sports-based PYD summer camp for the first time. 7 female children.	Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility (TPSR)	19 d Learning in Fitness and Education (LiFE) programme. 8am-2pm, free with lunch. Transport to sessions. Designed to promote social competence, social skills, sense of belonging and connectedness. 3 sports activities and 1 educational activity developing social skills.
Ullrich-French et al. (2012) (USA)	197 M = 95 F = 102, low-income families, high risk neighbourhoods PYD summer camp.	PYD: Interpersonal Relationships	4 weeks 8am-2pm. Four physical activity sessions and 1 educational session. Free with food provided. Designed to develop life skills for academic, social and physical domains.
Walsh et al. (2010) (USA)	13 aged 9–11 11M &2F, low income and at-risk community (violent crime, drugs) all African American, After School Club.	Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility (TPSR)	The Coaching Club 2 yrs with 45 sessions and used team sports as vehicle for teaching TPSR. First 8 sessions were formative and week 9 onwards TPSR is delivered. Format incl. Relational time, awareness talk, the lesson, group meeting and reflection time.
	Secondary Interventions
Bonnette et al. (2001) (USA)	Males at-risk. aged 10–13. Treatment group n = 36, control group n = 44, from outdoor summer camp.	Critical Thinking (Cleland, 1994)	3 weeks sports summer camp of 40 min sessions. Treatment group incl. sport skills instructions + critical thinking opportunities (student-centred). Control group incl. sports skills instructions only (teacher-centred).
Spruit et al. (2018a) (Netherlands)	248 intervention group, 120 control group, 88.4% Male. At-risk for developing juvenile delinquency. Sports-based interventions at local sports clubs.	Social Bond Theory Social Vulnerability Theory Experiential Learning Theory	Local sports clubs for youth at risk, 2x a week. Incl. Specific feedback, safe, educational environment, positive relationships between coach and participants.
	Tertiary Interventions
Bloemhoff (2006) (South Africa)	Males at-risk, ave. age 16. Treatment group (N = 46), Control Group (N = 60) from educational youth care centres.	Resilience & protective factors (Jessor, 1993)	One-off programme, 4hr duration and cohorts of 15–20 per group. Participation in three high elements of a ropes course. Participants perform a task while receiving emotional support from remainder of the group.
D’Andrea et al. (2013) (USA)	Females at risk aged 12–21. Treatment group n = 62, control group n = 26 from residential treatment setting.	Positive Youth Development	5 months of weekly basketball competitions against another residential centre. Facilitating life skills through sports-themed goals. Every 6 weeks a skills clinic was hosted.
Wu & Hsieh, 2006 (Taiwan)	12 at risk referred through social services, 11–17yrs 2F &7M. Outdoor adventure programme	Self-Concept & Life Satisfaction	28-day outdoor adventure programme, including low/high ropes, Horse Riding, Sailing, River-trekking, mountain-climbing to promote personal growth and improvement in personal effectiveness.

Table 3. Study designs and methodologies for sports and physical activity programmes.

		Primary Interventions
Study	Design & Method	Instrument(s)	Analysis	Results (+/-) significant findings incl. youth delinquency and life skills.
Armour and Sandford (2013)	Case Study/ Qualitative	Student profile, researcher field notes, focus groups, interviews, semi-structured reflective journals, open-ended survey, mid-evaluation survey for mentors, school staff and lead contacts.	Descriptive statistics, grounded theory process	Positive change from student baseline profiles (59%), bigger baseline improvements from weekend residential (63%) and 3-week classic course (75%). Decrease in positive changes once programme ceased. Increase in students taking on other external developmental activities. Developed skills in leadership ability and connections with others.
Frazier, Dinizulu, Rusch, Boustani, Mehta, Reitz (2015)	Pre/post-test, Quantitative	Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ, Age 11-17) Self-Report Behaviour Index Social Skills Improvement System (SSIS)	Paired t-test	Pre/ post follow-up measures. No change in parent reported social skills. Staff reported social skill improved from pre to post. Staff reported no change in problem behaviours, but parent reports showed reduction in problem behaviour. SDQ scored rates low, medium, and high risk. high risk attended more sessions.
Fuller et al. (2013)	Case Study, Qualitative	Interviews participants and parents at 12- & 24-week mark.	Data triangulation, Coding	Attended for attraction to sports-based activities. Valued safe space provided experiences for positive personal development. Programme facilitated development of each % of youth development. Character coded most.
Gano-Overway et al. (2009)	Non-experimental, Quantitative	Caring Climate Scale ASRE Scale (Affective self-regulatory efficacy) ESE Scale (Empathetic self-efficacy) Child Social Behaviour Questionnaires	Descriptive statistics Mediational Model	Perceived caring climate + predicts prosocial behaviour/ – predicts anti-social behaviour. Perceived caring climate + predicts ESE and ASRE and ESE + predicted prosocial behaviour / – predicts antisocial behaviour. ASRE + predicts ESE but ASRE did not predict ESE. Most with moderate-to-large effect.
Goodman et al., 2021)	Pre/ post-test, Quantitative	Emotional Regulation Questionnaire for Children and Adults Self-Efficacy (Dahlberg et al., 2005) Screen for Child Anxiety Related Disorders Short Moods and Feelings Questionnaire SDQ 11–17/ Adverse Childhood Experience Questionnaire	Paired t-test	Pre and post follow up measures. No sig, difference in emotional regulation, self-efficacy, risk for anxiety and risk for depression. Trends did not change at different levels of moderators. Adversity did not moderate relationships when zero to one ACEs were reported or when two or more ACEs were reported.
Khoury-Kassabri and Schneider (2018)	Non-experimental, Quantitative	Delinquency Scale Sport and Organised Physical Activity Programmes (measurement of features of the programme)	Descriptive Statistics ANOVA	Reduction in involvement of delinquent acts explored (crimes against a person, property or public disorder crimes). No interaction effects found between programme features and participation (sport type, programme intensity, training and supervision, interaction with community services).
Nols et al. (2017)	Non-experimental, Quantitative	General Self-Efficacy Scale Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale Socio-demographic indicators	Descriptive Statistics ANOVA Paired-sample t-tests	Reaching the right population Participants don’t have low perceived self-efficacy or low self-esteem. Sig. Result males scored higher than females. Lower self-esteem in those worried about their future. No sig. Difference in SEst or SEff between T1 & T2. Different results for different initiatives.
Riley and Anderson-Butcher (2012)	Case Study, Qualitative	Semi-structured interviews with parents	Grounded theory	Positive impact on; Biopsycho development, Provided Opportunities to Broaden Horizon, Enhance Affect, behaviours and cognitions. Impact on family interactions and prosocial activities in the community.
Ullrich-French et al. (2012)	Non-experimental Quantitative	Leader Support subscale of Psychological Sense of School Membership Scale Social Competence & Physical Self-Worth subscale of Self-Perception Profile for Children Self-Perception Profile for Children Children’s Attraction to Physical Activity The Children’s Hope Scale	Repeated measures MANOVA Multiple Regression	Sig. Increase in perceived social competence, physical competence, physical self-worth and global self-worth from pre to post programme. Greater change in perceived physical competence predicted greater change in all outcome variable. Increases in social competence and leader support predicted increase in global self-worth and attraction to physical activity. Increases in social competence predicted increases in hope.
Walsh et al. (2010)	Case Study Qualitative	Semi-structured interviews with youth and adult coaches, observations and documents	Deductive/ inductive coding, member checks data triangulation	Evidence to suggest transference of all four primary TPSR goals to the school environment. Evidence supporting transfer of self-direction goal setting couple by explained by focus on possible futures.
		Secondary Interventions
Bonnette et al. (2001)	Quasi-experimental, Quantitative	Teacher Observation Form-Critical Thinking (TOF-CT), New Jersey Test of Reasoning Skills (NJTRS), Self-perception Profile for Children (SPPC)	ANOVA, Z-test and descriptive statistics	No change in global self-worth. Increase in critical thinking. High sig. difference in critical thinking in Sport + group than sport group.
Spruit et al. (2018a)	Quasi-experimental Quantitative	Delinquency rates from official police data Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, Overt Aggression Scale from Buss-Durkee Hostility Inventory Dutch Tasks and Skills of Adolescents questionnaire Friends’ participation and peer pressure and support for delinquency subscales Resistance to peer pressure subscale of TVA Academic Engagement	Multilevel Model Intention-to-treat analysis	Intervention group sig. Lower chance of being registered as a suspect 11.8% reduction in suspect registration. Sig. Reduction in peer pressure over T0 and T1 Intervention group higher levels of acceptance to authority. Intervention group reported fewer delinquent friends and more prosocial behaviour.
		Tertiary Interventions
Bloemhoff (2006)	Pre/post-test, quantitative	The Shortened Protective Factors Scales	Paired t-test, ANCOVA	Post-test scores compared against post-test scores of control group. Post-test scores show No sig. difference in 2 variables. Sig. difference in value for achievement (p < 0.05) High Sig. difference in remaining 7 dependant variables (p < 0.01).
D’Andrea et al. (2013)	Quasi-experimental, Quantitative	Achenbach’s Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL), Observations	ANOVA, post-hoc test, T-tests	Females participating in programme exhibited reduction in restraints and time-outs and reduction in internalising and externalising symptoms. Decrease in CBCL pre to post score.
Wu & Hsieh, 2006	Non-experimental Quantitative	Tennessee Self-Concept Scale Life Effectiveness Questionnaire	Pre/ post-test Paired sample t-test	Sig. Pre/post difference of physical self 8/10 dimensions of life skill effectiveness was sig (p < .05)

Table 4. Mixed methods appraisal tool (MMAT) scores.

Author (year)	MMAT Scores						Comments
	0%	20%	40%	60%	80%	100%
Armour and Sandford (2013)					X		Divergences and inconsistencies between quantative and qualitative results not adequately addressed.
Bloemhoff (2006)				X			Randomization not appropriately performed; outcome assessors not blinded to the intervention provided
Bonnette et al. (2001)					X		Can’t tell if outcome data is complete
D’Andrea et al. (2013)					X		Outcome data not complete
Frazier et al. (2015)						X
Fuller et al. (2013)						X
Gano-Overway et al. (2009)						X
Goodman et al. (2021)					X		Outcome data not complete (dropout rate 52% in T2)
Khoury-Kassabri and Schneider (2018)						X
Nols et al. (2017)					X		Outcome data not complete (dropout rate 44%)
Riley and Anderson-Butcher (2012)						X
Spruit et al. (2018a)					X		Outcome data not complete (dropout 33%)
Ullrich-French et al. (2012)						X
Walsh et al. (2010)						X
Wu & Hsieh, 2006				X			No information on sample strategy; measures inappropriate – limited information.

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Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, C.L.P, upon reasonable request.