Emotional Abuse of Elite Child Athletes by Their Coaches

• NCJ Number: 206596
• Journal: Child Abuse Review Volume: 13 Issue: 3 Dated: May-June 2004 Pages: 215-223
• Author(s): Misia Gervis; Nicola Dunn
• Date Published: May 2004
• Length: 9 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United Kingdom

Annotation

This study examined the prevalence of emotional abuse of elite child athletes by their coaches in the United Kingdom.

Abstract

Garbino et al., in their extensive work in the area of emotional abuse, identified eight key behaviors as being indicative of emotional abuse. These are belittling, humiliating, shouting, scapegoating, rejecting, isolating, threatening, and ignoring. The athletes selected for the current study met the following criteria: participation in world-class performance programs or the equivalent, residents in the Greater London area, and consent for an interview. The study sample consisted of 12 former elite child athletes (4 males and 8 females) from the sports of football, gymnastics, athletics, netball, diving, and hockey. All had been identified as elite while still children (8-16 years old) and had competed at the highest level for 8 years on average. Semistructured interviews were the sole means of data collection. The objective of the interviews was to determine whether any of the athletes perceived that they had experienced any of the key behaviors involved in emotional abuse in interactions with a coach. All of the participating athletes reported experiencing belittling and shouting by their coach; nine athletes reported frequent threatening behavior; nine reported frequent humiliation; seven reported scapegoating; six reported rejection or being ignored; and four reported being isolated when they were elite child athletes. All participants reported that the behavior of their coaches changed and became more negative after they were identified as elite performers. Participants reported feeling stupid, worthless, upset, less confident, humiliated, depressed, fearful, and angry as a result of the behavior of their coaches. The findings suggest that the behavior of coaches is a threat to the psychological well-being of elite child athletes. 2 tables and 15 references