Background Body dissatisfaction is known as a robust predictor for eating pathology. Empirical knowledge about specific psychological mechanisms, beyond sports type, that can maintain or diminish female and male athletes’ body satisfaction is still sparse and research lack consistency. Prevention can decrease risk factors for eating pathology and protect athletes’ appreciation for the body and its functionality for continued and healthy sports participation.

Objective To explore the relationships between age, gender, type of sport, perfectionistic self-presentation, and motivation on body satisfaction among young athletes in one lean sport (gymnastics) and one non-lean sport (basketball). Hypotheses: Age, gender, and sport type are related to body satisfaction. A high autonomous motivation is positively related to body satisfaction while perfectionistic self-presentation displays a negative relationship.

Design Cross-sectional.

Setting Recreational to national elite level.

Participants A total of 209 athletes (basketball players n=77; gymnasts n=132; age range: 10–22) were recruited and 200 (females: n=157; males: n=43) were included in the analyses after data screening.

Assessment of Risk Factors Questionnaires were completed electronically and assessed demographic information (e.g., age, self-assigned gender), motivation (Behavioral Regulation in Sport Questionnaire), perfectionistic self-presentation (Perfectionistic Self-Presentation Scale – Junior Form) and body satisfaction (Body Appreciation Scale-2).

Main Outcome Measurements Body satisfaction (dependent variable).

Results Stepwise multiple regressions with bootstrapping showed age, self-assigned gender, and perfectionistic self-presentation (non-display of imperfection) to significantly predict body satisfaction (p<.05). Path analysis showed a significant relationship between age and body satisfaction (standardized coefficient: -.23) which was partially mediated by non-display of imperfection (p<.05). A moderated mediation analysis showed that this relationship was not moderated by gender.

Conclusions Body satisfaction prevention should target perfectionistic self-presentation tendencies among female and male athletes. Further research is warranted to investigate if non-display of imperfection is a prominent perfectionistic self-presentation facet among athletes across gender, sports and competition levels.

Background Elite athletes are role models for young sportspersons regarding social media use. Self-objectification, including self-sexualizing, contributes to body dissatisfaction and body shame, especially in young females. For efficient prevention of self-objectification, knowledge is needed about elite athletes’ self-presentation on social media.

Objective To compare social media postings indicative of self-objectification among female elite athletes in an aesthetic and a non-aesthetic individual sport and by age.

Design Cross-sectional quantitative visual content analysis study.

Setting Instagram on October 1st, 2021.

Participants All Swedish elite female athletes aged 16 years or older with open Instagram accounts in figure skaters (n=26) and athletics (track and field) athletes (n=40).

Assessment of Risk Factors The 30 most recently posted images were identified from each athlete’s Instagram account (Figure). Following exclusion of non-topical images, a panel (4 women/4 men) individually scored factors indicative of self-objectification in the remaining images. The scores were analyzed quantitatively by sport (figure skating/athletics) and age group (age-cut at 21 years).

Main Outcome Measurements Proportion of sexually suggestive images in Instagram postings.

Results In total, 1,869 images were analyzed; 669 posted by figure skaters and 1200 by athletics athletes. Seventy-four images (4%) were classified as containing sexually suggestive content. Figure skaters posted more images with sexually suggestive content (p=0.032) than athletics athletes (especially images with sexual posing (p=0.005) and sexualized body parts in focus (chest (p=0.049); hip-region (p=0.001)). Younger athletes published more images interpreted to contain sexual suggestion than older athletes (p<0.001) (especially images focusing on the chest (p=0.008)). 

Conclusions Prevention of self-objectification in young female sportspersons should include moderation of self-presentation practices on social media among female elite athletes in aesthetic sports and young elite athletes in their upper teens. Further research on the role of social media in the etiology of mental unhealth in sportspersons is warranted. 

The youth-to-first team phase presents a number of challenges in the careers of modern football players with stagnation, inconsistent performance and dropout being reported. The aim of this study was to investigate the perception of staff involved in professional academy football clubs around the globe, with a particular focus on youth and first team transition demands, resources as well as transitions barriers and coping among male academy football players. Participants from 29 male youth academies distributed across 29 countries took part in the survey. Our main findings suggested training and match intensity reported as being greater at the senior-level and also pressure from parents. The majority of respondents indicated their clubs having long-term strategy for player development and specific roles supporting successful player transitions. Exposure to different playing styles was deemed important to prepare players for the first team. Likewise, having the academy and the first team training on the same site was perceived to ease the transition, with the majority of respondents indicating that players are able to cope with the pressure of first team training and games. Perceptions on whether staff do not have the skills/resources to prepare players for the changes in environment and culture when players move from youth-to-senior level were unclear. Collectively, our study extends previous transition research on youth football academies suggesting the importance of a club-based playing philosophy to prepare players for the first team demands and challenges.

Epidemiological studies suggest that psychiatric disorders are as prevalent amongst high-performance athletes as in general populations, challenging the myth of invulnerability. Despite efforts of sport organisations to highlight the significance of athletes' mental health, it is still many times tough to combine the sport performance ethos with a discourse on mental health. This narrative cornerstone review examines challenges related to definitions and classifications of athlete mental health in high-performance sports and how these influence assessments and the implementation of interventions. We discuss challenges with concept creep and psychiatrisation and outline their consequences for sport healthcare professionals. Based on this, we present a framework that aligns different categories of athlete mental health conditions (from the reduction of wellbeing to psychiatric disorders) with intervention types (from the provision of supporting environments to pharmacotherapy). We conclude that researchers and sport practitioners need to carefully consider conceptual creep and the risk of pathologising normal and healthy, albeit emotionally aversive, reactions to athlete lifeworld events when assessing athlete mental health. A clear separation of terminology denoting the athlete's resources to handle the lifeworld (including salutogenic factors) and terms describing psychiatric conditions and their management is necessary to avoid misguidance in intervention planning.

Coach burnout is a state of physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion resulting from chronic stress and a prolonged sense of overwhelm. Burnout can result in negative consequences for the coach’s personal well-being, reduced satisfaction in the coaching role, and also impact the athletes they work with. High-performance coaching is complex and burnout symptoms are common. In high-performance environments, coaches can be exposed to several risk-factors known for burnout, including an elevated number of unpredictable stressors, a high workload, and significant organizational responsibility combined with work insecurity. In this chapter the story of a successful high-performance coach named Sarah is presented. Sarah’s journey in elite sport is described along with the psychosocial challenges she faces. Based on the case description of Sarah and current research, this chapter explains how burnout can be understood and expressed among coaches and provides examples of evidence-informed strategies for prevention and treatment. In the final part of the chapter, practical recommendations are presented to provide guidance for professionals working in sports environments (e.g., managers, coach developers, educators, sports psychologists) on how to approach and support a coach displaying burnout symptoms.

This study examined the prevalence of non-accidental violence, focusing on experienced harassment and abuse (HA), and mental health among current and retired Swedish competitive cheerleaders. An online survey was distributed to current and retired athletes in the Swedish cheerleading federation. The survey assessed perceived coach–athlete relationship, sport psychological safety, resilience, mental health, and experienced HA within the cheerleading environment. A total of 284 athletes (men = 5; women = 278; gender not disclosed = 1; current athletes = 211; retired athletes = 73) completed the survey. Psychological abuse was the most frequently reported HA form (current athletes = 21.6%; retired athletes = 53.5%), followed by neglect (current athletes = 5.4%; retired athletes: 26.8%) and physical abuse (current athletes = 3.9%; retired athletes = 12.7%). A high-quality coach–athlete relationship was identified as a protective factor for HA. Additionally, 33.1% and 8.9% of participants displayed scores indicating anxiety and depression caseness, while 63.8% reported a high level of wellbeing. Anxiety/depression scores above clinical cut-off were linked to injury episodes and a high level of wellbeing to a mentally healthy environment. Resilience was found to protect mental health overall. The high occurrence of reported psychological abuse and indications of anxiety/depression related to injury episodes suggest a need of attention towards prevention and athlete protection strategies in cheerleading environments.

This study explores elite athletes' experiences of psychotherapy administered by Swedish licensed psychologists or psychotherapists with and without specialisation in elite sports, addressing the research question: What do elite athletes experience as important for psychotherapy effectiveness when seeking treatment from a licensed clinical psychologist or psychotherapist? Five elite athletes (self-assigned women=4, self-assigned men=1; age range: 20-34 years) from three sports (fencing: n=2, handball: n=2, triathlon: n=1) volunteered to participate in interviews. All athletes had worked with more than one licensed psychologists/psychotherapist, either through a regional healthcare or an elite sports specialised clinic while being national or international elite sports level athletes. Data were inductively analysed by the use of reflexive thematic analysis. Trust and professionalism to the psychologist/psychotherapist were generated as an overarching theme. Themes created during data analysis included the psychologist/psychotherapist's (a) understanding of elite sports and of both the person and the athlete, (b) psychotherapeutic behaviours or skills (ie, holistic problem assessment, communication, empathy, validation, confidentiality, therapeutic alliance, goal-oriented content and ability to tailor psychotherapy to the athlete) and (c) conditions for psychotherapy (time, accessibility and appropriate support). Participants expressed difficulties in differentiating between qualified and unqualified mental health support providers. Mental health services originating within the sport context were perceived to improve accessibility and the possibility of regular sessions. Mental health services provided outside the immediate sporting context, with the psychologist/psychotherapist not being overly involved in sports, was however perceived to enable a more objective and holistic assessment of both non-sport and sport-related concerns impacting on athlete mental health. We conclude that sports organisations must facilitate athletes' access to psychological treatment, and additionally ensure that practitioners working with psychotherapy have professional expertise and are appropriately qualified. Sports organisations should also systematically evaluate mental health services to ensure quality and that they are up to date with best practices.