A Holistic Ecological Approach to Injury Prevention and Management in Youth Sport: A Scoping Review

Injuries are a major concern in youth sport. Traditionally, injury research has focused on biomedical and psychological characteristics of the individual athlete. However, newer trends suggest that injuries result from dynamic interaction between the athletes and their surroundings. The objective of this scoping review was to identify positive and negative environmental factors associated with injury prevention and management in youth sport. This scoping review was conducted according to guidelines of The Joanna Briggs Institute. We systematically searched five databases in November 2024 and updated in October 2025. A total of 39 studies were selected of which five were reviews. Of the remaining studies, 23 used qualitative, five used quantitative, and six used mixed-method designs. Based on the Holistic Ecological Approach, 40 factors were identified and categorized into preconditions (e.g., lack of resources and equipment), processes (e.g., support from peers), structure (e.g., busy training/match schedule), and culture (e.g., culture of risk-taking). In all four categories, both positive and negative factors were identified, although negative influences predominated. Our findings support the importance of environmental factors in youth sport injury prevention and management, yet these factors have so far been studied in isolation rather than as parts of the broader environment. Collectively, they provide an initial sense of how the environment facilitates injury prevention and management, but based on the current literature, we cannot say how these factors work together. Future research should examine how the identified factors interact and cohesively influence injuries in youth sport.