Adolescent Athletes: Psychosocial Challenges
Adolescent Athletes: Psychosocial Challenges
Sport is viewed as a context for adolescents' positive development; however, there is a large body of literature revealing psychosocial challenges and clinical concerns associated with youth sport participation. Recent research has examined how young athletes cope with challenges in sport contexts and the process by which athletes learn to cope, with parents and coaches being implicated as important social agents in athletes' coping. This line of research may provide valuable information about adolescents' coping in other contexts, particularly in achievement contexts such as school and academic settings. For example, task-oriented coping (e.g., logical analysis, seeking social support, effort expenditure) is associated with improvements in sport achievement, and athletes' perceptions of coping effectiveness increased following educational sessions dealing with problem-focussed coping. Educating athletes about task-oriented and problem-focussed coping may be useful in helping athletes to deal with competitive demands, as well as demands in other achievement contexts (i.e., school). There is abundant research in recent years examining the development of life skills and the potential for the transfer of life skills learned in sport to other contexts. Despite these advances, there is little research examining the transfer of the coping skills athletes gain in sport contexts to other areas of their lives.
Why do some adolescent athletes develop eating disorders? Researchers have identified the importance of cognitive concerns as core features of adolescent aesthetic sport athletes' disordered eating. It would appear that cognitive concerns regarding body weight and competitive anxiety about performance contribute to the development of disordered eating. Thus, perceptions that striving for a thin body ideal will be beneficial for performance may put athletes at risk for developing disordered eating. Although disordered eating is suggested to develop as a result of young athletes' desire to be leaner to improve performance, research among adolescent athletes is limited in scope and has provided equivocal results. It may be the case that disordered eating is diagnosed more often in contexts which emphasize aesthetics and weight management. It should also be noted that most research examining athletes' disordered eating has been conducted with older, elite populations. Nonetheless, eating disorders diagnosed among adult elite athletes may begin during adolescence, particularly if pressures to perform contribute to young athletes' cognitive concerns regarding their body shape and weight. Further longitudinal research which examines the trajectory of development of disordered eating is warranted.
The definitions and diagnoses of clinical versus subclinical eating disorders is an important issue to be addressed. Subclinical eating disorders are those which are not considered diagnosable as a clinical eating disorder; yet, the athlete still presents symptoms of disordered eating and may experience severe physical, psychological, and behavioural disturbances as a result. It is not entirely clear how subclinical eating disorders are different from 'eating disorders not otherwise specified' (e.g. when some but not all criteria are met for diagnosis of anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa), and it is also not clear how practitioners and researchers understand and apply these different definitions and diagnoses. Petrie and Greenleaf have previously drawn attention to this issue, and we agree that greater clarity and consistency surrounding these definitions and diagnoses are needed.
Why do young athletes drink alcohol? Several reasons have been offered to account for adolescent athletes' alcohol use. Young athletes' increased social standing and pressure to maintain academic and sport performances may create increased demands, and socialization processes may encourage the association between sports and alcohol consumption. Therefore, perceptions of increased demands or greater difficulty in managing challenges, along with a 'normalization' of drinking, may contribute to an increase in adolescent athletes' alcohol consumption. Peer group influence and parental norms are important in predicting adolescent athletes' alcohol use, which suggest key opportunities for intervention and education. Parent communication and modelling of appropriate behaviours may be a viable avenue for decreasing adolescent athletes' alcohol consumption. Researchers may wish to examine the efficacy of team and parental interventions to examine the short-term and long-term effects on adolescent athletes' alcohol use.
Over the past 18 months, researchers have established evidence for psychosocial challenges and clinical concerns among adolescent athletes; however, one limitation is a lack of studies adopting intervention or experimental studies designed to target these issues among young athletes. There is a need for studies which evaluate the effectiveness of educational or preventive programmes regarding disordered eating or substance abuse, to improve parental involvement in sport, and to enhance coping among adolescent athletes. Moving forward, it would be worthwhile for researchers to consider intervention research aimed at adolescent athletes as well as members of their social network to promote psychosocial well being and lifelong sport participation.
Discussion
Sport is viewed as a context for adolescents' positive development; however, there is a large body of literature revealing psychosocial challenges and clinical concerns associated with youth sport participation. Recent research has examined how young athletes cope with challenges in sport contexts and the process by which athletes learn to cope, with parents and coaches being implicated as important social agents in athletes' coping. This line of research may provide valuable information about adolescents' coping in other contexts, particularly in achievement contexts such as school and academic settings. For example, task-oriented coping (e.g., logical analysis, seeking social support, effort expenditure) is associated with improvements in sport achievement, and athletes' perceptions of coping effectiveness increased following educational sessions dealing with problem-focussed coping. Educating athletes about task-oriented and problem-focussed coping may be useful in helping athletes to deal with competitive demands, as well as demands in other achievement contexts (i.e., school). There is abundant research in recent years examining the development of life skills and the potential for the transfer of life skills learned in sport to other contexts. Despite these advances, there is little research examining the transfer of the coping skills athletes gain in sport contexts to other areas of their lives.
Why do some adolescent athletes develop eating disorders? Researchers have identified the importance of cognitive concerns as core features of adolescent aesthetic sport athletes' disordered eating. It would appear that cognitive concerns regarding body weight and competitive anxiety about performance contribute to the development of disordered eating. Thus, perceptions that striving for a thin body ideal will be beneficial for performance may put athletes at risk for developing disordered eating. Although disordered eating is suggested to develop as a result of young athletes' desire to be leaner to improve performance, research among adolescent athletes is limited in scope and has provided equivocal results. It may be the case that disordered eating is diagnosed more often in contexts which emphasize aesthetics and weight management. It should also be noted that most research examining athletes' disordered eating has been conducted with older, elite populations. Nonetheless, eating disorders diagnosed among adult elite athletes may begin during adolescence, particularly if pressures to perform contribute to young athletes' cognitive concerns regarding their body shape and weight. Further longitudinal research which examines the trajectory of development of disordered eating is warranted.
The definitions and diagnoses of clinical versus subclinical eating disorders is an important issue to be addressed. Subclinical eating disorders are those which are not considered diagnosable as a clinical eating disorder; yet, the athlete still presents symptoms of disordered eating and may experience severe physical, psychological, and behavioural disturbances as a result. It is not entirely clear how subclinical eating disorders are different from 'eating disorders not otherwise specified' (e.g. when some but not all criteria are met for diagnosis of anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa), and it is also not clear how practitioners and researchers understand and apply these different definitions and diagnoses. Petrie and Greenleaf have previously drawn attention to this issue, and we agree that greater clarity and consistency surrounding these definitions and diagnoses are needed.
Why do young athletes drink alcohol? Several reasons have been offered to account for adolescent athletes' alcohol use. Young athletes' increased social standing and pressure to maintain academic and sport performances may create increased demands, and socialization processes may encourage the association between sports and alcohol consumption. Therefore, perceptions of increased demands or greater difficulty in managing challenges, along with a 'normalization' of drinking, may contribute to an increase in adolescent athletes' alcohol consumption. Peer group influence and parental norms are important in predicting adolescent athletes' alcohol use, which suggest key opportunities for intervention and education. Parent communication and modelling of appropriate behaviours may be a viable avenue for decreasing adolescent athletes' alcohol consumption. Researchers may wish to examine the efficacy of team and parental interventions to examine the short-term and long-term effects on adolescent athletes' alcohol use.
Over the past 18 months, researchers have established evidence for psychosocial challenges and clinical concerns among adolescent athletes; however, one limitation is a lack of studies adopting intervention or experimental studies designed to target these issues among young athletes. There is a need for studies which evaluate the effectiveness of educational or preventive programmes regarding disordered eating or substance abuse, to improve parental involvement in sport, and to enhance coping among adolescent athletes. Moving forward, it would be worthwhile for researchers to consider intervention research aimed at adolescent athletes as well as members of their social network to promote psychosocial well being and lifelong sport participation.
Source...