IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v17y2020i24p9332-d461481.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Exploring Mental Health and Illness in the UK Sports Coaching Workforce

Author

Listed:
  • Andy Smith

    (Department of Sport and Physical Activity, Edge Hill University, St Helens Road, Ormskirk L39 4QP, UK)

  • David Haycock

    (Department of Sport and Physical Activity, Edge Hill University, St Helens Road, Ormskirk L39 4QP, UK)

  • Jon Jones

    (Thrive Approach, The Quadrangle, 1 Seale Hayne, Howton Road, Newton Abbot TQ12 6NQ, UK)

  • Kenny Greenough

    (Department of Sport and Physical Activity, Edge Hill University, St Helens Road, Ormskirk L39 4QP, UK)

  • Rachel Wilcock

    (Department of Sport and Physical Activity, Edge Hill University, St Helens Road, Ormskirk L39 4QP, UK)

  • Ian Braid

    (DOCIAsport, Sussex Innovation Centre, University of Sussex, Science Park Square, Brighton BN1 9SB, UK)

Abstract

There is growing international concern about the mental health of those who work in sport, including coaches. However, we currently know little about the prevalence of mental illness and the experience of mental health among coaches, and their perceptions and use of workplace mental health support services. Little is also known about coaches’ disclosure of mental illness to, and seeking help from, work colleagues. We explore these issues using data from 202 coaches who responded to the first United Kingdom survey of mental health in the sport and physical activity workforce. In total, 55% of coaches reported having ever experienced a mental illness, and 44% currently did, with coaches in grassroots/community settings being most likely to experience mental illness. Depression and anxiety were the most commonly reported conditions and many coaches preferred to access mental health support outside of the organisation for whom they worked or volunteered, with decisions to seek help from others in the workplace being shaped by complex organisational and personal considerations. The findings suggest there is an important public health challenge which needs to be met among coaches, so that we can better address a question of fundamental importance: ‘who is looking after the people looking after the people’?

Suggested Citation

  • Andy Smith & David Haycock & Jon Jones & Kenny Greenough & Rachel Wilcock & Ian Braid, 2020. "Exploring Mental Health and Illness in the UK Sports Coaching Workforce," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(24), pages 1-14, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:24:p:9332-:d:461481
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/24/9332/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/24/9332/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Marte Bentzen & Göran Kenttä & Anne Richter & Pierre-Nicolas Lemyre, 2020. "Impact of Job Insecurity on Psychological Well- and Ill-Being among High Performance Coaches," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(19), pages 1-15, September.
    2. Fraser Carson & Mary Malakellis & Julia Walsh & Luana C. Main & Peter Kremer, 2019. "Examining the Mental Well-Being of Australian Sport Coaches," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(23), pages 1-12, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Fraser Carson & Natalie Dynon & Joe Santoro & Peter Kremer, 2020. "Examining Negative Emotional Symptoms and Psychological Wellbeing of Australian Sport Officials," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(21), pages 1-14, November.
    2. Anders Håkansson & Karin Moesch & Caroline Jönsson & Göran Kenttä, 2020. "Potentially Prolonged Psychological Distress from Postponed Olympic and Paralympic Games during COVID-19—Career Uncertainty in Elite Athletes," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(1), pages 1-9, December.
    3. Nurul Iman Abdul Jalil & Soon Aun Tan & Nur Shakila Ibharim & Anisah Zainab Musa & Siew Hui Ang & Wustari L. Mangundjaya, 2023. "The Relationship between Job Insecurity and Psychological Well-Being among Malaysian Precarious Workers: Work–Life Balance as a Mediator," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(3), pages 1-14, February.
    4. Krister Hertting & Karin Grahn & Stefan Wagnsson, 2022. "Supportive Communities: Conceptualizing Supportive Structures for Coaches’ Learning and Well-Being in Community Youth Soccer," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(14), pages 1-9, July.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:24:p:9332-:d:461481. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.