Identifying future research priorities in the field of interpersonal violence (IV) towards athletes in sport: a Delphi study

OBJECTIVE: Our aim was to define the priorities for future research in safeguarding athletes from interpersonal violence (IV) in sport through a Delphi consensus study of researchers in the field. METHODS: An internet-based three-round Delphi method was used as a multistage facilitation technique to arrive at a group consensus (set at ≥75% agreement). A targeted literature search was conducted to develop a list of potential research priorities that were presented as short statements in the first round. RESULTS: A total of 52 participants (researchers in IV in sport) took part in the first round, 52 completed the second round and 44 completed the third round. Respectively, 47 items, 83 items and 60 items were included in each round. The participants achieved consensus on 11 statements in the first round, seven in the second round and 31 in the third round, for a total of 49 consensus research priorities. The first four priorities that reached consensus (78.8-80.8% agreement) directly following the first Delphi round were scored with high importance (between 6.2 and 6.3 on a scale of 7). Those four priorities included: (1) documenting the experiences of children athletes and minors, (2) studying the disclosure or reporting of violence, (3) developing, evaluating and advising on interventions targeting education and training and (4) documenting the experiences of violence of para athletes. CONCLUSION: This study defines research priorities for IV in sport that may elucidate further gaps in current policies and practices.