Dag André Nilsen

• Nilsen, Dag André; Bjørke, Lars; Pensgaard, Anne Marte & Sigurjonsson, Thorsteinn (2026). “There Is a Significant Change!” But Have They Noticed? A Case Study of Perceived Coaching Behaviour After Participating in the Growth Talent Mindsets for Sports Coaches’ Intervention 2.0. International Sport Coaching Journal. ISSN 2328-918X. p. 1–12. doi: 10.1123/iscj.2025-0096. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  To help coaches create positive training environments, coach education programmes that include behaviour change techniques have been requested. Drawing on mindset theory and the development of wise psychological interventions, the Growth Talent Mindsets for Sports Coaches’ Intervention 2.0 was developed to enhance coaching. This study investigates whether coaches changed their behaviour after the intervention and what those changes entail. Perceived coaching behaviour was defined as the case and investigated with two coaches (one male and one female) and their athlete groups: one group of four athletes (two girls and two boys; M age  = 16.5) and another of five athletes (three girls and two boys; M age  = 14.4). Semistructured interviews were conducted with coaches, and focus groups were held with athletes. The analysis showed that athletes noticed changes in their coaches, which mostly coincided with their perceived changes. Coaches altered their goals of coaching and became more aware of their behaviour, adopting a more holistic approach to athlete development. However, athletes perceive the changes differently, showing challenges when coaches and athletes have different goals for involvement or when the coach’s focus on learning becomes excessive. Overall, the study substantiates that integrating a mindset intervention into coach education can support coaches’ self-motivated change and foster growth-promoting coaching.

• Nilsen, Dag André; Sigurjonsson, Thorsteinn Josef; Ivarsson, Andreas & Pensgaard, Anne Marte (2024). Part II of a two-step mixed-methods approach in developing the Growth Talent Mindsets for Sports Coaches Intervention 2.0: The coaches’ perceptions of delivery and possible psychological processes of change. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology. ISSN 1041-3200. 37(1), p. 73–95. doi: 10.1080/10413200.2024.2370797. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The current study follows up on the first-time implementation of the GrowTMindS Intervention described in Part I, with an overall aim of improving sports coaches’ beliefs in their talent as a coach (coach talent mindset, C-TM) and their athletes’ talent (athlete talent mindset, A-TM) as being malleable. By drawing on the user-centered design approach, we first refined the intervention using the insight provided by the coaches in Part I. A mixed-method approach then evaluated the second-time implementation, which included 33 participants (Mage = 38.76, SD = 16.55; 13 women, 20 men) in the quantitative strand and 11 informants (Mage = 39.09, SD = 14.10; 5 women, 6 men) in the sequential qualitative strand. The coaches represented the sports of swimming, bandy, ski sports, golf, and orienteering. The quantitative results indicate that the intervention targeted the coaches’ talent mindsets as their growth C-TM and A-TM scores increased from pre-test to post-test a year and a half after the intervention. The qualitative findings substantiate these results, showing how an increase at scale also appears meaningful concerning their belief in their own and their athletes’ developments. The findings also helped us to understand how the embracing, or possibly refuting, of intervention delivery may substantiate different trajectories of change, and thereby provided insight into the difficulty of targeting and the complexity of psychological processes and behavioral change. By considering the changes in coaches’ growth C-TM and A-TM, we assume that the GrowTMindS Intervention is ready for testing in a Phase III efficacy trial.

• Nilsen, Dag André; Sigurjonsson, Thorsteinn Josef; Ivarsson, Andreas & Pensgaard, Anne Marte (2024). Part I of a two-step mixed-methods approach in developing the Growth Talent Mindsets for Sports Coaches Intervention: The design and targeting of the intervention. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology. ISSN 1041-3200. 37(1), p. 49–72. doi: 10.1080/10413200.2024.2361692. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The overall aim of this two-part study was to develop an intervention targeting sports coaches’ mindsets about their talent as a coach (coach talent mindset, C-TM) and their athletes’ talent (athlete talent mindset, A-TM), called the GrowTMindS Intervention. In this Part I, the intervention was developed drawing on a user-centered design approach and implemented in a coach education program in Norway. The study involved 31 coaches (5 women, 26 men) from 22 to 69 years of age, representing the sports of bandy, golf, ski sports, swimming, and volleyball. Using a mixed-methods approach, the quantitative results showed that the coaches increased their A-TM from pretest to post-test, while their C-TM, which was high at baseline, remained more challenging to target. The qualitative findings helped us understand how most coaches, through reflective processes, perceived the delivery of the intervention as sense-making and substantiated their commitment to growth talent mindsets. The qualitative findings also highlighted areas for refinement and tailoring of the intervention to target all coaches’ talent mindsets. Overall, the study was considered a necessary first step in developing an intervention showing significant and meaningful changes in coaches’ self-reported talent mindsets, consistent with the guidelines of wise psychological intervention and behavior change.

• Litleskare, Sigbjørn; Sigurjonsson, Thorsteinn Josef; Nilsen, Dag André & Vedøy, Ingeborg Barth (2023). Én form passer ikke alle – høgskoleansattes motiver for og erfaring med kurs i høgskolepedagogikk. Uniped - Tidsskrift for universitets- og høgskolepedagogikk. ISSN 1500-4538. 46(2), p. 72–85. doi: 10.18261/uniped.46.2.2. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Den praktiske konsekvensen av at det i 2019 kom en forskriftsendring som la større vekt på utdanningsfaglig kompetanse ved opprykk for ansatte i høyere utdanning, var at høgskoler og universiteter igangsatte kurs i høgskolepedagogikk og påla sine ansatte å gjennomføre dette ved ansettelse og opprykk. For å undersøke i hvilken grad dette bidrar til økt opplevd utdanningskvalitet, ble det sendt invitasjon om deltakelse til 850 e-postadresser til vitenskapelig ansatte ved en høgskole i Norge. Totalt 209 personer svarte og utgjorde utvalget i undersøkelsen. Dataene indikerte at mange tar kurset i tilknytning til opprykk og ansettelse, og kun halvparten av dem som har tatt kurset, har gjort dette med motiv om å bedre sin pedagogiske kompetanse. De som har gjennomført kurs i høgskolepedagogikk, er «I noen grad» enig i at kurset bidro til å styrke deres egen pedagogiske kompetanse. Ansatte i høyere stillingskategorier og ansatte fra fakultet med antatt høy pedagogisk kompetanse så mindre verdi i kurset enn andre ansatte. Ansatte opplever også at det finnes bedre løsninger for å øke utdanningskvaliteten ved institusjonen. Studien antyder at forskriften og implementeringen av denne i begrenset grad bidrar til økt utdanningskvalitet, og at det finnes alternative løsninger som antas å være bedre.

• Nilsen, Dag André; Sigurjonsson, Thorsteinn Josef; Pensgaard, Anne Marte & Chroni, Stiliani (2022). Sports Coaches’ Athlete Talent Mindset and Views Regarding Talent Identification in Norway. International Sport Coaching Journal. ISSN 2328-918X. 10(2), p. 141–153. doi: 10.1123/iscj.2022-0010. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  We investigated coaches’ mindsets of athletic talent as conceptualised by Dweck (athlete talent mindset, A-TM) along with the athlete age at which they believe talent can be identified. We also looked at the age of talent identification in coaches of different A-TM. Using data collected as part of a survey conducted in Norway, the 3,830 participating coaches were men and women between 16 and 83 years of age. Overall, the coaches held a predominantly growth A-TM. However, older coaches, those not born in Norway, and coaches in athletics, gymnastics, and football were found to have a more fixed A-TM. Regarding their views about talent identification age, one fifth of the coaches believe that talent can be seen before 12 years of age, with football, gymnastics, and swimming coaches and those not born in Norway being more prone to detect talent at younger ages. Analyses also showed that the more fixed A-TM coaches believed that they could identify talented athletes at younger ages; however, not all of them reported such talent identification age views. These findings indicate that coaches’ A-TM and views regarding talent identification operate as two separate beliefs, which may be useful for understanding coaches’ early talent identification and development approaches.

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• Grindaker, Eirik; Ytterbøl, Christian & Nilsen, Dag André (2026). Mental trening i praksis – hva fungerer i operative miljøer? - Universitetet i Innlandet. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Fagsak som belyser hvordan mental trening kan bidra til å styrke prestasjon i operative miljøer, der kravene til å håndtere stress, usikkerhet og press er høye. Det fremheves at mental yteevne i stor grad er trenbar, og at systematisk arbeid med ferdigheter som fokus, stressmestring og beslutningstaking er sentralt. Videre understrekes betydningen av at mental trening er konkret, situasjonsnær og relevant for de kravene man møter i operative settinger, for å kunne påvirke prestasjon og håndtering av krevende situasjoner.

• Grindaker, Eirik; Nilsen, Dag André; Valnes, Thomas André & Lognseth, Stig (2026). Hva er robusthet – fra barneidrett til beredskap. doi: https:/share.transistor.fm/s/2f1a469e. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  I denne episoden utforsker vi hva robusthet egentlig innebærer – og hvordan den utvikles fra barneidrett til operativ beredskap. Vi diskuterer hvordan begrepet forstås og praktiseres både i idretten og i Forsvaret. Videre diskuterer vi trenerrollen som en sentral arkitekt for robusthetsdannelse, med særlig vekt på mamma- og pappa-treneren. Vi retter særlig oppmerksomhet mot hvordan trenerens holdninger, verdier og menneskesyn former kultur, normer og utviklingsmiljø – og dermed legger premissene for barns og unges robusthetsutvikling. I tillegg drøfter vi hvilke egenskaper og ferdigheter utviklet gjennom idretten som har direkte operativ relevans, samt hvilke konsekvenser det kan få for samfunnets samlede beredskap dersom idretten svekkes som arena for systematisk utvikling av robusthet.

• Nilsen, Dag André (2026). Utvikling og læring i fotball. Full text in Research Archive
• Nilsen, Dag André (2026). Growth mindsets for læring og prestasjon i fotball. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Det årlige trenerseminaret til NFF Rogaland blir i 2026 arrangert helgen 23.-25.januar.

• Nilsen, Dag André; Skogan, Herman; Valnes, Thomas André & Grindaker, Eirik (2026). Hva er robusthet – fra barneidrett til beredskap - Operativ yteevne | Podcast on Spotify. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Operativ yteevne · Episode

• Nilsen, Dag André; Kulstad-Torneus, Eline; Gjestvang, Christina & Erikstein-Midtbø, Gjermund (2026). Trenerens mentalitet: Hvordan påvirker den læring, trivsel og utvikling i norsk idrett? | NIH-podden. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Hva slags mentalitet har norske trenere – og hvorfor kan den ta livet av motivasjonen til ungdom i idretten? Gjester: Eline Kulstad-Tornéus, landslagstrenar Norges fotballforbund og Dag André Nilsen, førsteamanuensis ved INN og tidligere NIH-stipendiat. Ny forskning fra NIH viser at én av fem norske trenere har en statisk mentalitet – altså et tankesett der man i stor grad mener at talent er medfødt og kan identifiseres tidlig. Dette kan bidra til et mer resultatorientert treningsmiljø, der utøvere blir redde for å gjøre feil og mindre villige til å prøve og lære. Konsekvensene kan være redusert læring, trivsel og motivasjon – særlig blant barn og unge. I denne episoden av NIH-podden snakkes det om: - Hva som kjennetegner statisk og vekstorientert mentalitet hos trenere - Hvordan treneres holdninger og språk former treningskultur og læringsmiljø - Hvilken rolle trenere, ledere og foreldre spiller i å skape trygge og utviklende idrettsmiljøer - Hva forskningen sier om hvordan trenermentalitet faktisk kan endres Episoden er spesielt relevant for trenere, ledere i idretten, foreldre – og alle som er opptatt av utvikling, læring og trivsel i idretten.

• Grindaker, Eirik; Ytterbøl, Christian; Nilsen, Dag André & Lognseth, Stig (2025). Mental trening i praksis – hva fungerer i operative miljøer? doi: https:/share.transistor.fm/s/b96fb9c3. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Kan mental yteevne trenes – og hvordan gjør vi det i praksis? I denne episoden ser vi nærmere på hva mental yteevne faktisk innebærer i operative kontekster, og hvilken betydning den har i situasjoner preget av stress, usikkerhet og høye krav til prestasjon. Vi diskuterer hva forskning og erfaring fra idrett og Forsvar sier om hvor trenbar denne ferdigheten er, og hvilken overføringsverdi det er mellom ulike miljøer. Vi ser også på hvordan man kan jobbe med mental utvikling i både førstegangstjenesten og i profesjonelle militære avdelinger – og hva det krever av lederskap, systematikk og kultur.

• Nilsen, Dag André; Kulstad-Torneus, Eline & Erikstein-Midtbø, Gjermund (2025). Desse trenarane tek livet av motivasjonen. [Internet]. Forskning.no. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Ein av fem norske trenarar har ein mentalitet som kan vere svært uheldig for unge utøvarar, viser ny forsking.

• Nilsen, Dag André (2025). Bruk av growth mindset i utviklingen av trenere. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  NOFIPs konferanse 2025

• Nilsen, Dag André (2024). Vekstmentalitet og kroppsøving – betydning for kroppsøvingslæreres praksis. Full text in Research Archive
• Nilsen, Dag André; Bjørke, Lars; Pensgaard, Anne Marte & Sigurjonsson, Thorsteinn Josef (2024). A case study of perceived change in coaching behaviour after participating in the “Growth Talent Mindsets for Sports Coaches’ Intervention”. Full text in Research Archive
• Nilsen, Dag André; Aanes, Fritz & Fallmyr, Synnøve Sundby (2022). Ekko - Ekko i P2 - NRK Radio. [Radio]. NRK. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Spørretimen: Hvordan skal vi få ting til å vare? Hvorfor er vi så dårlige på sirkulærøkonomi i Norge, når de er mye bedre andre steder? Panelet forsøker å gi svar på hva vi kan gjøre for å unngå å kjøpe nytt. Hva er egentlig "usportslig oppførsel"? I toppidretten står det mye på spill, og enkelte er villige til å krysse moralske grenser for å vinne. Vi undersøker hvor grensene går for hva som er greit. Ekkos reporter på tur opp Gudbrandsdalen Hvordan forbereder vi oss på vinteren som venter, og går det inn på oss alt som skjer nå? Ekko lodder stemningen. Julius Paltiel - Holocaustvitne in memorandum (R) Julius Paltiel var én av bare 34 norske jøder som overlevde Auschwitz. Det er 14 år siden Paltiel døde, men budskapet hans om å aldri glemme lever fortsatt.

• Nilsen, Dag André; Sigurjonsson, Thorsteinn Josef; Pensgaard, Anne Marte & Chroni, Stiliani (2021). Talent-mindset of sports coaches in Norway and their view of athlete talent. Full text in Research Archive
• Sigurjonsson, Thorsteinn Josef; Medgard, Magnhild; Nilsen, Dag André; Solbakken, Tor & Chroni, Stiliani (2021). If we lose them there will be no sport: The Case of volunteer coaches in Norway. Full text in Research Archive
• Chroni, Stiliani; Medgard, Magnhild; Nilsen, Dag André; Sigurjonsson, Thorsteinn Josef; Solbakken, Tor & Wallinus-Rinne, Antero (2019). Women coaches in Norway: Barriers they face and ways forward. Full text in Research Archive
• Nilsen, Dag André (2025). Uncovering the Field of Sports Coaches’ Talent Mindsets in Norway: Current States, Professional Developmental Potential, and Implications for Coaching Behavior. Norges idrettshøgskole. ISSN 9788250206359. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Background: Sports are the most popular leisure activity among children and youth in Norway. The training environment is significant for the athletes’ experience of participation, potentially affecting their physical, psychological, and social health. Given that the coach has been identified as the most important contributor in establishing the training environment, there has been a demand for coach education programs that develop coaches and strengthen their work in creating a training environment where athletes learn and develop. This has proven to be challenging, and a possible outcome is that education has contributed to reinforcing beliefs and behavior that the coach already had and that the athletes do not experience any positive changes on the training field. Aim and Research Objectives: Based on the theoretical framework of mindsets and wise interventions, the overall aim was to strengthen the professional development of adult coaches in Norwegian sports, thereby enhancing sports as an arena for development and learning for participating athletes. Three research questions were developed for this thesis: (1) What are sports coaches’ mindsets about athlete talent, and is there a foundation for developing growth talent mindsets for adult sports coaches in Norway? (2) Can sports coaches’ talent mindsets be developed or reinforced by integrating the GrowTMindS Intervention into a CEP, and what aspects might promote or undermine such changes? (3) To what extent do coaches who develop or reinforce growth talent mindsets change their coaching behavior, and how might their athletes experience these changes? Methods and Design: This doctoral thesis has used a sequential mixed-method research design, which means that quantitative (Paper I) or qualitative (Paper IV) methods are used in each study or combination (Papers II and III) and that the studies build on each other. In the first study (Paper I), data was collected as part of a national survey of coaches (N = 3,830) to examine coaches’ mindset about athlete talent and to investigate whether there was a difference in when coaches could identify talent depending on their mindset. In the next study, a mindset intervention was developed and integrated into a coach education program to develop coaches’ growth talent mindset. The study was conducted as a quasi-experiment without a control group and evaluated with quantitative and qualitative data. Coaches who consented to participate in the intervention (Paper II; N = 31) contributed to the evaluation of the intervention by answering a digital questionnaire four times and participating in an unstructured focus group interview at the last in-person gathering of the education. Data from the first implementation contributed to revising the intervention, which, in the next study (Paper III), was integrated into the same coach education program and conducted one year later with a new cohort. Again, quantitative data were collected four times to evaluate the statistical effect of the intervention (N = 33). Based on the quantitative data, coaches (N = 11) were purposefully recruited for a semi-structured interview to evaluate the intervention qualitatively. Finally, in the last study (Paper IV), we wanted to investigate whether and how their athletes perceived a self-reported change in coaches through an instrumental case study. “Perceived coaching behavior” was defined as the case to investigate after the coaches had participated in the second implementation of the intervention. The semi-structured interviews with the coaches (from Paper III) represented the coaches’ (N = 2) perspective of the case, while focus group interviews were conducted with their athlete groups (group 1, N = 4; group 2, N = 5) to investigate the athletes’ perspective. Results and Discussion: The findings from the national survey show that coaches tended to have a growth mindset about athlete talent. Such findings were consistent with data measured among teachers, indicating that individuals in educational positions may tend to report a growth mindset more than the general population. At the same time, there is some uncertainty about whether a higher mean score reflects a “genuine” growth mindset and whether coaches truly believe that talent is something that can be developed or if this is something they have learned in the culture they are part of. This is because learning and development likely constitute the core idea in sports, as in school, and individuals working in such organizations communicate a view that corresponds to this to a greater extent. These assumptions were confirmed in the evaluation of the intervention, especially the second implementation, when the quantitative data showed that despite a high average growth mindset at the start, coaches got a higher score during participation. The statistical change in growth mindset turned out to be as large as the difference in growth mindset between the coaches who, in the national survey, answered that talent can be identified before the athlete is 12 years old and those who could not relate it to age. Interestingly, the quantitative data was underpinned by the qualitative interviews, which indicated that the coaches changed their views on talent identification and how they aimed to contribute to the athletes’ development and learning. The athletes confirmed having experienced a change in their coaches, and there were several concurrent experiences of how the training sessions were now conducted. However, it is worth noting that some athletes can perceive a changed focus negatively, something that coaches and coach developers should be aware of in their work to develop sustainable training environments for all athletes. Conclusion: Despite coaches in Norway reporting having a growth mindset towards athlete talent, this project shows that it can be both appropriate and possible to develop coaches’ growth mindset about athletic talent by integrating an intervention as part of a coach education program.

• Chroni, Stiliani; Medgard, Magnhild; Nilsen, Dag André; Sigurjonsson, Thorsteinn Josef & Solbakken, Tor (2018). Treneren i norsk idrett – En kartlegging av trenere og trenerrollen. Universitetet i Innlandet. ISSN 9788283800494. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  I 2017 gjennomførte Høgskolen i Innlandet en undersøkelse blant et stort antall trenere i Norge. Undersøkelsen tok sikte på å få vite mer om trenerne i barne-, ungdoms- og voksenidretten. Opplysningene i denne rapporten, med tittelen Treneren i norsk idrett – En nasjonal kartlegging av trenere og trenerrollen, bygger på svar fra 5977 trenere, 4404 menn og 1559 kvinner i alderen 15 til 83 år. Trenerne representerte 104 idretter fordelt på 49 særforbund, og kom fra alle fylker i Norge. Rapporten viser funn om treneren og deres trenervirksomhet, utdanningsbakgrunn, idrettslige kunnskap, ferdigheter og erfaring, hvordan de tenker omkring læring og deres fremtid, hva som hindrer dem i videre læring og fremgang, og hvorfor noen av dem har sluttet. Selv om utvalget i undersøkelsen er et av de største som er innhentet av trenerundersøkelser i verden, vet vi ikke i hvor stor grad det er representativt for alle trenere i Norge. Dette fordi det totale antall trenere på alle nivåer i norsk idrett er ukjent.

• Chroni, Stiliani; Medgard, Magnhild; Nilsen, Dag André; Sigurjonsson, Thorsteinn Josef & Solbakken, Tor (2018). Profiling the coaches of Norway: A national survey report of sports coaches and coaching. Universitetet i Innlandet. ISSN 9788283800470. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  In 2017, Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences surveyed a large number sports coaches across Norway. The survey sought to get to know the men and women who coach the children, youth, and adults of Norway. The data of this survey project, titled Profiling the Coaches of Norway (PROCON), is based on responses from 5977 coaches, 4404 men and 1559 women aged from 15 to 83 years old. The coaches represented 104 sports from 49 federations, and came from every county in Norway. The present publication reports on what we learned about the coaches and coaching in Norway; the educational and sports backgrounds they come from, the experience they bring with them, the sports knowledge and skills they possess; how they think about learning and their future in coaching; what hinders their learning and advancement as coaches, and why some of them stopped coaching. While the PROCON sample is one of the largest captured in a coaches’ survey study worldwide, we cannot be sure how representative it is of Norway’s sports coaches, as the total number of coaches working within sports across all levels nationwide is unknown.

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