A question of time: a brief systematic review and temporal extension of the social ecological framework as applied in sport and physical activity

Abstract

The dominant socioecological framework (SEF) is informed by Bronfenbrenner's first-generation SEF and ignoring the more nuanced later versions that highlight the interconnections and temporal realities of sport and physical activity interventions in the real-world. To explore how SEFs have been used in sport medicine, injury prevention, and sport participation, this article uses a brief review to investigate applications of SEFs to inform the development of a new framework that can be applied in future research and practice. A systematic review of the Web of Science database for the 5-year period to December 2018 was conducted using keywords related to sport, participation, and injury prevention: “socioecological” AND ((sport* AND injury) OR (sport* AND medicine) OR (sport* AND participation)). Articles were analyzed to explore: country of origin, research themes; sample; methods, the “generation” of the SEF used, and key theorists. Of the 10 articles retained, most were on sport and/or physical activity participation (77%), typically from Belgium (40%) and Australia (30%). All drew upon Bronfenbrenner's first-generation SEF. These results informed the development of a new and novel temporal extension of the SEF (TESEF) reflecting Bronfenbrenner's third-generation, ie Process-Person-Context-Time model that is more relevant to a pragmatic, real-world, research approach going forward.