Abstract
The number of children dealing with behavioural problems is increasing. A major challenge in many health-supportive programmes is the recruitment and retention of these children. In the current study, Sport Mix Club (SMC), an approach to enhance socioemotional disorders of 4- to 12-year-old children through sport classes in municipality Vaals, the Netherlands, is used as an illustration. Where many studies faced difficulties getting and keeping children in their interventions, SMC overcame this challenge. Therefore, we decided to explore “What factors contribute to enhanced recruitment and retention procedures among children with behavioural problems in Sport Mix Club?” A qualitative case study design using the analysis of the administrative logbook of the SMC coach and trainees, individual interviews with the SMC coach, trainees (n = 2), school teachers (n = 3) and parents of participating children (n = 9), and four focus group interviews with children (n = 13) were carried out. During the recruitment and retention of SMC, the human psychological need of relatedness seemed to be of crucial value. The fact that the SMC coach: (1) made efforts to become a familiar face for children, parents and community partners beforehand; (2) showed enthusiasm; and (3) placed her focus on having fun as opposed to the children's problems, seemed to be decisive in the process of getting children to participate in SMC and retaining their participation.
Highlights
Children having trouble concentrating, acting as the “rebel” in class or being so shy that it makes it difficult for them to make good connexions, are some examples of behavioural problems that teachers come across in the classroom situation
The current study focuses on the research question: “What factors contribute to enhanced recruitment and retention procedures among children with behavioural problems in Sport Mix Club?”
The current study aimed to explore crucial factors for both the recruitment and retention of primary school children with behavioural problems in the Sport Mix Club (SMC) approach
Summary
Children having trouble concentrating, acting as the “rebel” in class or being so shy that it makes it difficult for them to make good connexions, are some examples of behavioural problems that teachers come across in the classroom situation. In the Netherlands for example, the prevalence increased from 9.7% (243.000 children) in 2003 to an estimation of over 12% (about 300,000 children) in 2018 [3] These problems often arise from a lack in their social and emotional development [4]. Behavioural problems have been found to lead to lower school performances [5] and have a negative influence on future outcomes such as income, career perspectives, well-being and health [6]. Support for this group of children is expected to enhance their functioning at school, and at home and within the broader community
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