Transición cultural y migración deportiva en el deporte de élite: Una metasíntesis

The aim of the present study is to identify and synthesize the facilitators of the cultural transition of migrant athletes using a meta-synthesis. A meta-synthesis is a secondary analysis of primary qualitative research to reveal new knowledge concerning a specific phenomenon, the cultural transition in this case. A systematic research was performed in the databases SCOPUS, Web of Science, PsycINFO, SPORTDiscus, Scielo and Redalyc. The review included a total of 18 studies written in English (n =16) or Portuguese (n = 2). Five themes, that involve the facilitating factors was identified from the deductive thematic analysis synthetized in two categories: external and internal resources. External resources comprise (a) inclusive sociocultural context and (b) social support networks. Moreover, the internal resources include (c) migrant identity, (d) language, and (e) sport career abroad competencies. These results highlight the reciprocal nature of this transition characterized by the mutual influence between the sociocultural context and the migrant athlete. Considering that most of these studies were conducted in the receiving countries (n =16) and with samples of male participants (n = 16), future research conducted with female migrant athletes and from the perspective of the sending countries are required. Finally, practical recommendations to generate support strategies based on the cultural praxis of Cultural Sports Psychology are suggested.