Initiating and Sustaining Emotional Abuse in the Coach–Athlete Relationship: An Ecological Transactional Model of Vulnerability

The purpose of this study was to explore the process by which emotional abuse occurs and is often sustained in sport. Methods were established in congruence with the iterative nature of grounded theory. In total, 18 retired elite athletes participated in the study. In-depth semistructured interviews were conducted with each participant, and data were coded using open, axial, and selective coding techniques. Data were interpreted to suggest that the perpetration of emotional abuse in the coach–athlete relationship is closely tied to ambitions and philosophies of athlete development. Based on the findings, an ecological transactional model of vulnerability to emotional abuse in the coach–athlete relationship is proposed. Recommendations are made for future prevention and intervention initiatives.     

Disordered Eating in Women's Gymnastics: Perspectives of Athletes,Coaches, Parents,and Judges

This study examined the knowledge base and perspectives of current and retired gymnasts, parents, coaches and judges with respect to disordered eating in gymnasts. Surveys were designed for this study and included open-ended questions, Likert scales, and checklists. The results indicated that various discrepancies existed between the groups' reports. For example, the retired gymnasts reported more eating disorders and negative views of their experiences than did the current gymnasts. The coaches attributed the use of unhealthy weight control practices to other coaches but not to themselves. Gymnasts who received disparaging comments about their bodies or instructions to lose weight had significantly more disordered eating patterns than those who had not received such comments. The importance of one's social environment on eating and weight control practices is emphasized. Every group recommended further education about nutrition, adolescent development, body image, and psychological well-being. Limitations and future recommendations are addressed.     

Where is Safeguarding in Sport Psychology Research and Practice?

Recent cases of sexual abuse of athletes have drawn significant concern amongst stakeholders in sport and the public at-large. The fact that the perpetrators in many cases of athlete abuse had numerous victims over the span of several years raises questions of who might have known or suspected that athletes were being harmed. Sexual abuse cases should serve as an impetus for all of us in sport psychology to interrogate our roles and responsibilities as consultants and researchers in the protection of athletes. We propose that future research in applied sport psychology and education of consultants address maltreatment and safeguarding.

Lay Summary: In the following article, we propose that more attention in the research and practice of sport psychology should be devoted to understanding maltreatment of athletes and ways to protect athletes from harm.     

Conceptualizing Excellence: Past,Present, and Future

While an historical glance through the sport psychology literature reveals an interest in performance excellence since its beginning, a focus of personal excellence has been a more recent trend. This review will address the relationships between performance and personal excellence. More specifically, we question whether performance excellence in high-level sport, by virtue of the exceptional demands on the elite athlete, occurs at the expense of development in personal excellence or whether performance excellence is possible only through personal excellence. Furthermore, we propose that the field may reconcile these ideals in the future through an athlete-centered sport model. This model is defined by the philosophy that developmentally appropriate sport can be used as a vehicle for enhancing overall well-being and the acquisition of lifelong skills. Performance excellence, therefore, co-exists in the same environment as personal excellence. The implications of implementing an athlete-centered sport system for athletes and coaches and for the research and practice of those in sport psychology will be addressed.     

The Effects of Athlete Retirement on Parents

It is often parents who introduce their children to competitive sports and parents who then provide remarkable emotional and material support across their children's athletic careers (Bloom, 1985 Bloom, B., ed. 1985. Developing talent in young people, New York: Ballantine Books.  [Google Scholar]; Côté, 1999 Côté, J. 1999. The influence of the family in the development of talent in sport. The Sport Psychologist, 13: 395–417. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). Considerable research documents athletes’ retirement experiences (Baillie, 1993 Baillie, P. 1993. Understanding retirement from sports: Therapeutic ideas for helping athletes in transition. The Counseling Psychologist, 21: 399–409.  [Google Scholar]; Baillie & Danish, 1992 Baillie, P. and Danish, S. J. 1992. Understanding the career transition of athletes. The Sport Psychologist, 6: 77–98. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]; Svoboda & Vanek, 1982 Svoboda, B. and Vanek, M. 1982. “Retirement from high level competition”. In Mental training for coaches and athletes, Edited by: Orlick, T., Partington, J. and Salmela, J. 166–175. Ottawa: Coaching Association of Canada.  [Google Scholar]; Werthner & Orlick, 1982 Werthner, P. and Orlick, T. 1982. Retirement experiences of successful Olympic athletes. International Journal of Sport Psychology, 17: 337–363.  [Google Scholar]), yet none explores the effects of retirement on parents. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of athletes’ disengagement from sport on parents. In-depth interviews were conducted with six parents of former female elite gymnasts who had been retired for three to five years and the data analyzed inductively (Côté, Salmela, Baria, & Russell, 1993 Côté, J., Salmela, J., Baria, A. and Russell, S. 1993. Organizing and interpreting unstructured qualitative data. The Sport Psychologist, 7: 127–137. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]; Lally & Kerr, 2005 Lally, P. S. and Kerr, G. 2005. The career planning, athletic identity and student role identity of intercollegiate student-athletes. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 76: 275–285. [Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]; Miller & Kerr, 2002 Miller, P. S. and Kerr, G. 2002. The athletic, academic, and social experiences of intercollegiate student-athletes. Journal of Sport Behavior, 25: 346–367.  [Google Scholar], 2003 Miller, P. S. and Kerr, G. 2003. The role experimentation of intercollegiate student-athletes. The Sport Psychologist, 17: 197–220.  [Google Scholar]). Their daughters’ withdrawal from gymnastics and their own immediate disengagement from the world of elite sport had a tremendous impact on the participants’ personal and social relationships, leaving them struggling with weighty self-doubts over their failure to intervene with abusive coaches.     

Images of career: Nine key metaphors

This article examines theorists', practitioners', and workers' extensive use of metaphors in the conceptualization of careers. Metaphor constrains career thinking to powerful stereotypes, yet also extends views through the consideration of alternative metaphors and the creation of new ones. Morgan's (1986) method of multiple metaphor is used to develop an eclectic view of career studies. Nine key metaphors for career are considered—the career as inheritance, construction, cycle, matching, journey, encounters and relationships, roles, resource, and story. These metaphors act as frameworks for much career theory, and each presents specific career issues. Together they have the potential to advance thinking about careers beyond the framing of familiar metaphors, and provide a broader and more inclusive understanding of career phenomena.     

Adolescents' deliberate self-harm, interpersonal stress, and the moderating effects of self-regulation: a two-wave longitudinal analysis

The predictive effects of peer victimization and harsh parenting on deliberate self-harm were examined. As derived from the experiential avoidance model, the study also tested whether these links were moderated by individual self-regulation approaches. Data were collected at two points in time from 880 junior high school students (mean age = 13.72) in Sweden. Analyses using structural equation modeling revealed that Peer Victimization was predictive of self-harm. Although Harsh Parenting was not predictive of self-harm, this link was moderated by adolescents' gender. No moderating effect of self-regulation was revealed. The study concludes that the high prevalence of deliberate self-harm recently found in community samples of adolescents cannot be prevented without attending to environmental psychosocial factors.     

Shyness as a moderator of the link between advanced maturity and early adolescent risk behavior

Advanced maturity in early adolescence has previously been linked with several risk behaviors. In this study, we examine whether shyness and gender might moderate this link. The participants were 750 early adolescents (M(age) = 13.73; 390 girls and 360 boys), followed for one year. We conducted analyses with shyness and gender as moderators of the links between advanced maturity and different types of risk behavior, and between one risk behavior and another. Despite differential patterns for boys and girls, the results suggest that being shy or not being shy modifies the links between advanced maturity and risk behavior primarily for boys. For boys, shyness reduces relationships between advanced maturity and risk behavior, whereas not being shy exacerbates the relationships between advanced maturity and high-risk behavior. Controlling for romantic involvement and peer victimization did not alter the moderating effects, thus failing to support the idea that the weaker links for shy youths were due to shy youths not being drawn into advanced peer groups by romantic partners or peers. Thus, shyness might serve as a buffer against risk behavior in early adolescence.