Brief Structured Team Reflection Embedded in Elite Underwater Rugby Training (BSTR-UWR)

Brief Structured Team Reflection Embedded in Elite Underwater Rugby Training: a 12-week Longitudinal Evaluation of Cohesion, Psychological Safety, Peer Trust, and Team Identification

This study evaluates whether a brief, structured team reflection programme embedded within routine elite underwater rugby training is associated with longitudinal change in key psychosocial team over 6 weeks and assessed at baseline (T0), mid-intervention (week 3; T1) and post-intervention (week 6; T2). Outcomes include team cohesion, psychological safety, peer trust and team identification measured via validated questionnaires.

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Sports; Psychosocial; Cohesion, Social
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Usual elite underwater rugby training

Detailed Description

A standardised set of short reflection components is embedded into the squad's training microcycle over 6 weeks. Sessions occur twice weekly immediately post-training (before athletes 15 minutes. The protocol includes 16 sessions distributed across five components (internal-state check-in, specific recognition, structured micro-reflection on team functioning, collective identity reinforcement, and one controlled vulnerability session), all implemented under a strict "share-only" rule to preserve psychological safety (no interruptions, cross-talk, evaluation or rebuttal). Facilitation is shared between a staff member and a rotating athlete leader. Fidelity and dose are monitored via a brief session log (delivery, minutes, facilitator, attendance, prompt completion, adherence to share-only rule). Objective sport performance outcomes are not collected; training availability and injury/illness status are recorded descriptively to contextualise exposure.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 27
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: SAMUEL JOSE GAVIRIA ALZATE, PhD; Phone Number: +573192772912; Email: samuel.gaviria@tdea.edu.co

Study Locations

• Colombia
  • Antioquia
    • Guarne, Antioquia, Colombia, 054080
      • Recruiting
      • Tecnológico de Antioquia
      • Contact: SAMUEL JOSE GAVIRIA ALZATE, PhD; Phone Number: +573192772912; Email: samuel.gaviria@tdea.edu.co

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Male elite underwater rugby athletes aged 18 years or older.
• Officially rostered in the squad and training regularly (minimum 2 sessions per week).
• Able to complete Spanish-language questionnaires.
• Willing to participate and provide written informed consent.
• Available to complete assessments at baseline (T0), week 3 (T1), and week 6 (T2).

Exclusion Criteria:

• Unable to complete the questionnaires reliably (e.g., language/comprehension barriers).
• Anticipated prolonged absence during the 6-week period that would prevent meaningful exposure to the intervention and/or completion of follow-up assessments.
• Declines participation or does not provide informed consent.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Other
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Intervention / Treatment

Experimental: Experimental: Usual elite underwater rugby training + Brief Structured Team Reflection (BSTR); Participants continue their routine elite underwater rugby training as planned by the team staff and additionally complete an embedded Brief Structured Team Reflection (BSTR) programme over 6 weeks (16 post-training sessions; approximately 3/week; 5-15 minutes each). BSTR sessions occur immediately after training, before athletes disperse.

Behavioral: Usual elite underwater rugby training; Ongoing routine team training delivered during the 6-week study period according to the team's normal training plan (e.g., in-water technical/tactical practice and dry-land conditioning as typically scheduled). Training content is not modified for research purposes. Training attendance and any major deviations (e.g., cancellations, unusual loads) are recorded as part of routine monitoring.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Team Cohesion (GEQ-12 short form)	Team cohesion measured using the Spanish 12-item short form of the Group Environment Questionnaire (GEQ). Items are rated on a 1-9 scale; negatively keyed items are reverse-scored. A composite cohesion score is computed as the mean of items, with higher scores indicating greater perceived cohesion.	Baseline (T0, pre-intervention; up to 5 minutes), Week 3 (T1; up to 5 minutes), and Week 6 (T2, post-intervention; up to 5 minutes)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Psychological Safety (Edmondson 7-item Team Psychological Safety scale)	Psychological safety assessed with the 7-item Team Psychological Safety scale. Items are answered on a 1-7 Likert-type response format; negatively keyed items are reverse-scored. A composite psychological safety score is computed as the mean of the 7 items, with higher scores indicating greater perceived psychological safety within the team.	Baseline (T0, pre-intervention; up to 5 minutes), Week 3 (T1; up to 5 minutes), and Week 6 (T2, post-intervention; up to 5 minutes)
Peer Trust (HERO horizontal trust, 4-item team-referent measure)	Peer trust within the squad assessed using a 4-item team-referent horizontal trust measure drawn from the HERO organisational trust framework. Items are answered on a 0-6 response scale (strongly disagree to strongly agree). A composite peer trust score is computed as the mean of the 4 items, with higher values indicating greater perceived horizontal (peer) trust among teammates.	Baseline (T0, pre-intervention; up to 5 minutes), Week 3 (T1; up to 5 minutes), and Week 6 (T2, post-intervention; up to 5 minutes)
Team Identification (6-item team-referent identification scale)	Team identification assessed using a 6-item team-referent identification measure adapted from Mael & Ashforth. Items are answered on a 1-7 Likert-type response format. A composite identification score is computed as the mean of the 6 items, with higher scores indicating stronger identification with the team.	Baseline (T0, pre-intervention; up to 5 minutes), Week 3 (T1; up to 5 minutes), and Week 6 (T2, post-intervention; up to 5 minutes)

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Federal University of Vicosa

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Estimated): March 1, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): May 15, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): May 15, 2026

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: February 26, 2026
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 26, 2026
• First Posted (Actual): March 4, 2026

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): March 5, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 3, 2026
• Last Verified: March 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Psychological safety; Sports psychology; Underwater rugby; Team reflection; Team cohesion
• Other Study ID Numbers: BSTR-UWR

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO
• IPD Plan Description: Individual participant data (IPD) will not be shared publicly. The sample is small and drawn from a single, identifiable elite underwater rugby squad, so even de-identified records could carry a meaningful risk of re-identification when combined with contextual information (e.g., roster composition, training attendance patterns, and time-point assessments). Participant consent covers analysis and publication of aggregated results rather than unrestricted public release of participant-level data. Summary statistics and full methodological details will be reported in publications. De-identified extracts or additional details may be considered on a case-by-case basis, subject to a data-use agreement, ethics approval, and safeguards that minimise re-identification risk.

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No