Positive Youth Development in Aboriginal Physical Activity and Sport: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Physical activity and, more specifically, sport, can positively impact the body, mind, heart, and spirit of Aboriginal youth. Despite enthusiasm for these benefits, there is a paucity of published information reviewing the relationship between sport and physical activity, and Aboriginal youth development. The purpose of this systematic review was to provide an overview of research examining Aboriginal youth development in physical activity and sport settings. A review of literature was conducted up until July 2015 using 10 key databases and non-indexed Indigenous journals. Articles meeting the following criteria were retained: (a) involved an Indigenous population; (b) explored, either through empirical research or conceptualization, the notion of ''positive youth development'' and ''physical activity'', ''sport'', or ''recreation''. Thirty-five articles out of the 10,039 documents identified met the inclusion criteria. Thematic analysis revealed that physical activity and sport provides many positive developmental opportunities for Aboriginal youth to thrive (e.g., to incorporate Indigenous values and traditional ways, to strengthen resiliency, to improve all aspects of health, and to promote culture and education), as well as possible negative developmental experiences (e.g., racism, bullying, and exclusion). To our knowledge, this article presents the first review of research examining Aboriginal youth development in sport and physical activity and highlights how the activity context can shape Aboriginal youth development.

Supporting Indigenous youth activity programmes: a community-based participatory research approach

“…The findings of this research contribute to the PA literature by identifying necessary considerations for supporting Indigenous youth activity programmes. Recent research has synthesised the sport and recreation experiences of Indigenous youth (McHugh et al 2018) and systematically reviewed research on the positive development of Indigenous youth through sport, activity, or recreation (Bruner et al 2016). The aforementioned research outlined important 579 factors that should be considered when developing Indigenous youth activity programmes, such 580 as programmes that promote holistic health, integrate culture and traditions, and optimize on 581 community relationships.…”

“…Based on the current CBPR process and outcomes, methodological and practical ideas are offered for elaborating on the process of Indigenous youth activity programme development (e.g., Bruner et al 2016) and participatory research development (McHugh 2017).…”

“…which activity occurs important to both youth and programme development. Activity 80 opportunities have the potential to foster spaces for the positive development of Indigenous 81 youth when these spaces promote holistic health, traditional culture and values, connections to 82 the land (e.g., hunting and fishing), and relationships to Indigenous communities (e.g., family and community member support; Bruner et al 2016;Hanna 2009;McHugh et al 2018).…”

PYDSportNET: A knowledge translation project bridging gaps between research and practice in youth sport

“…Through synthesis of the results of primary studies we created a model of PYD through sport in order to guide future research and practical initiatives (Holt, Neely et al, 2017). Other systematic reviews of the PYD literature-including quantitative studieshave also been published (e.g., Bruner et al, 2016;Jones, Edwards, Bocarro, Bunds, & Smith, 2016), and thus it is fair to suggest that recent knowledge in this area has been identified and synthesized.…”

Physical activity interventions to promote positive youth development among indigenous youth: a RE-AIM review

“…The process that was undertaken is described in greater detail elsewhere [38]. In phase I (see Table 1 Table 2) based on knowledge of existing journals from indigenous and non-indigenous scholars.…”