Coping strategies among young athletes: a scoping review

Contemporary youth sport environments have become increasingly demanding due to factors such as early specialisation, social media exposure and lifestyle changes. However, updated evidence synthesising coping strategies in this population remains limited. Therefore, this scoping review aimed to identify and map coping strategies used by adolescent athletes and their relationships with age, sex, sport modality, competitive level and sport performance. We followed the Joanna Briggs Institute method as our theoretical framework. The searches were carried out across eight databases. In total, 43 studies met the review criteria. The results revealed that adolescent athletes, in general, used emotion-focused coping strategies more frequently than problem-focused coping strategies. Boys used more problem-focused coping strategies, while girls used emotion-focused strategies, including social support. Individual sports athletes used coping strategies to regulate emotions and maximise concentration. In contrast, team sport athletes’ coping often involved problem-solving. Higher competitive level athletes tended to use problem-focused strategies, such as emotional control, confidence and performance motivation. The results indicate the need for future longitudinal studies to analyse how adolescent athletes deal with the stress imposed by the sporting and competitive environment, as coping strategies change throughout life.