ArticleFrontiers in psychology2026
Sport specialization predicts athletic identity exclusivity in youth athletes: a three-wave RI-CLPM study of controlling coaching and non-sport peer restriction with implications for adolescent care.
Article in Frontiers in psychology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: Sport specialization has usually been examined through biomedical outcomes such as overuse injury, burnout, and premature dropout. Less is known about whether specialization is prospectively associated with adolescent identity development by narrowing opportunities for exploration beyond sport. Drawing on identity status theory, self-determination theory, and bioecological systems theory, this study examined whether sport specialization intensity predicts athletic identity exclusivity among youth athletes and whether longitudinal indirect pathways involve controlling coach behaviors and non-sport peer restriction. Methods: A three-wave longitudinal design was implemented across a six-month period. Participants were 542 adolescent athletes (mean age = 14.63 years, SD = 1.48; 53.5% male) recruited from youth sport academies, specialized sport schools, and elite club programs in Eastern China. Measures of sport specialization intensity, controlling coach behaviors, non-sport peer restriction, and athletic identity exclusivity were administered in September 2025 (T1), December 2025 (T2), and March 2026 (T3). Data were analyzed using a random-intercept cross-lagged panel model (RI-CLPM), which separates stable between-person differences from within-person change. Results: At the within-person level, increases in sport specialization intensity predicted subsequent increases in controlling coach behaviors, non-sport peer restriction, and athletic identity exclusivity. Controlling coach behaviors and non-sport peer restriction each predicted later identity exclusivity, and both longitudinal indirect effects were significant. Significant reciprocal paths were also found from controlling coach behaviors to subsequent specialization, suggesting a reinforcing cycle between specialized participation and controlling interpersonal climates. The RI-CLPM showed substantially better fit than the traditional cross-lagged panel model. Conclusion: Sport specialization intensity was prospectively associated with subsequent athletic identity exclusivity through longitudinal indirect pathways involving controlling coaching and non-sport peer restriction. The findings extend the literature beyond injury and burnout by identifying identity narrowing as a developmentally relevant psychosocial outcome. Youth sport programs should avoid unnecessarily intensive year-round single-sport structures, promote autonomy-supportive coaching, and preserve opportunities for non-sport peer engagement.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.