Nationality and sociocultural factors influence athlete development and sport outcomes: Perspectives from United States and Austrian youth alpine ski racing

ABSTRACT

Geographical regions possess distinct sporting cultures that can influence athletic development from a young age. The United States (US) and Austria both produce elite alpine ski racers, yet have distinct sport structures (i.e., funding, skiing prominence). In this exploratory study, we investigated sport outcomes and psychological profiles in adolescent alpine ski racers attending skill development academies in the US (N= 169) and Austria (N= 209). Sport participation and psychological questionnaires (mental toughness, perfectionism, grit, coping, burnout) were administered to athletes. In Austria, athletes participated in fewer extracurricular sports, began competing and training younger, and accumulated less practice hours than athletes in the US. Athletes in the US reported greater burnout than athletes in Austria. Finally, in the US, women accumulated more practice hours and experienced more parental pressure than men, while men accumulated more practice hours in Austria. Austria’s skiing-centric sport culture may encourage athletes to fully immerse into the sport, contributing to positive psychological outcomes. Reduced sport opportunities in the US beyond educational institutions may pressure athletes to practice more to ensure continued competitive skiing. Stressors for sport participation will be unique to gender in each country though, given their implicit gender stigmas for sport participation.

KEYWORDS:

• Culture
• injury
• practice
• performance
• psychological

Acknowledgments

We would like to acknowledge United States Ski and Snowboard (USSS) and its High-Performance Director, Troy Taylor, for help with study coordination, contact, and recruitment. Funding for this study was provided by the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) through USSS and the University of Utah Sports Medicine and Sports Science Institute. We would also like to thank our colleagues in Austria for their significant contribution to this study, and Sarah Taylor for her assistance with data reduction and processing.

Disclosure statement

Contacts at USSS had little involvement in the measures and study design and no involvement in the analysis, interpretation, dissemination of findings, or submission decision. The results of this study do not constitute endorsement by the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM). There are no other conflicts of interest to declare. All results of this study are presented clearly, honestly, and without fabrication, falsification, or inappropriate data manipulation. Interested readers can reach out to the corresponding author for a copy of all statistical outputs and copies of de-identified data for meta-analytic purposes.