"Background: Criminal and anti-social behavior are prevalent issues among children and young people worldwide. To prevent youth from entering the justice system, alternative activities have been introduced to foster pro-social values, mental health, and life skills. Among these activities, sports interventions have proven to be effective in addressing risk factors associated with criminal and anti-social behavior.
Objectives: This review aims to evaluate the effectiveness of sports intervention programs for at-risk youth and those who have already offended in reducing outcomes such as offending, anti-social behavior, and violence.
Methodology: We conducted a comprehensive search of completed and ongoing studies across databases, relevant journals, and websites. The review included experimental and non-experimental studies, process evaluation, and cost-effectiveness studies. Two review authors independently assessed studies for inclusion, extracted data, critically appraised the studies, and synthesized findings. We conducted a thematic synthesis of qualitative studies, utilizing a coding framework based on theory-based approaches. Stakeholders involved in sports interventions played a crucial role in shaping the focus of the review, ensuring that its findings contribute to making informed decisions on policy matters related to interventions for reducing youth crimes.
Findings: The author will present the implementation evidence drawn from the review and provide insights into effective intervention strategies. This presentation will discuss how the mixed method approach can provide evidence of the operation of the causal chain in sports reviews. The study design issues and causal processes from the included studies will also be discussed. The review contributed to the toolkit (knowledge brokering), which aims to support policymakers in making evidence-based decisions.
Conclusion: The synthesis of the implementation findings from this review provides global evidence on the enablers and barriers to effective sports interventions for at-risk youth. These insights support evidence-informed decision-making for practitioners and policymakers, contributing to the positive development of children and young people worldwide. Furthermore, involving stakeholders, including donors, in defining the review's scope ensures that the sector’s perspectives are considered in shaping research and policy uptake."