Autistic women remain invisible within sport and exercise psychology, a profession shaped by hypermasculine cultures and allistic norms that regulate who is viewed as competent and “professional.” Using reflexive thematic analysis, this novel longitudinal diary-method study analyzed 132 pages of reflective practice journals spanning 7 years of training and practice as an autistic woman sport and exercise psychologist. Three themes are presented: disparities between neurotypical expectations and autistic experiences , cultivating an authentic self , and working in line with autistic ways of being . Findings demonstrate how masking was a structurally produced response to allistic and gendered standards of professionalism, rendering “authenticity” conditional and distorting individuation. Autistic disclosure was an ambivalent, high-stakes credibility decision. We argue that the field requires structural change to decouple legitimacy from allistic-coded performance and recognize autistic ways of thinking and communicating as professionally viable. This paper makes a significant contribution by extending our understanding of sport and exercise psychology practitioner development, exclusion, individuation, and autistic experience in sport and performance contexts.
The broad aim of this study was to understand mental performance consultants’ experiences of consulting directly with coaches. Twelve mental performance consultants (female n = 5; age range = 27–75) who had consulted with high-performance coaches on aspects of their own performance participated in one approximately 60-min semistructured interview and follow-up member checking. Using thematic analysis, we produced 16 themes related to research questions on relationship development (themes: coach beliefs, relationship building, benefiting athletes first); performance needs (themes: communication and feedback, mental skill development, work–life balance, facilitating connection, leadership dynamics); barriers (themes: lack of buy-in and trust, lack of time, organizational limitations); ethical considerations (themes: confidentiality, peer supervision, relationship boundaries); and training preparation (themes: formal and informal education). This research provides insight into how mental performance consultants navigate consulting with high-performance coaches and discusses training needs for such consulting work.
Psychological mattering represents one’s sense of being valued and adding value in social contexts. Increased athlete mattering was linked to higher self-esteem and mental health in youth sport and higher satisfaction in college sport. However, little is known about how mattering is cultivated and understood by participants in sport. The aim of this study was to define and describe mattering in high school sport, along with exploring if there are any unique aspects of the sport context that shape how one experiences mattering. After five focus group interviews with high school athletes ( N = 28), a thematic analysis was conducted, first deductively using the mattering framework, then inductively to explore unique aspects of mattering in sport. Using mattering to explore athletes’ high school sport experiences provides an understanding of the ways in which sport relationships can lead to, or hinder, mattering.
Planned disruptions are intentional training activities that expose athletes to stress to improve their competitive performance and psychological development; however, knowledge on the types of planned disruptions employed by expert coaches remains limited. This study explored the types of planned disruptions that Ivica Osim, an expert coach, was believed to have used and how their impacts were retrospectively interpreted by five coaches who worked under him. We adopted a pragmatic research paradigm and conducted semistructured interviews with the coaches. A thematic analysis identified four types of planned disruptions—unstable training locations, unsettled competitive conditions, intentional unpredictability, and multidimensional loads. Participants retrospectively described these practices as creating a multifaceted training environment in which players became accustomed to pressure, developed game intelligence, strengthened psychological competencies, and supported team dynamics. Overall, the findings show how planned disruptions were understood to relate to individual- and team-level changes in an elite sport context.
Elite coaches operate within high-pressure environments where job demands often conflict with personal and family responsibilities. Using the Work–Home Resources model, we examined 20 National Basketball Association male assistant coaches’ perceptions of family as a source of stress and as a coping mechanism within the work–home context of elite professional coaching. Semistructured interviews were conducted and analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. Three themes were constructed: (a) competing role demands and the erosion of presence, (b) family as a source of strain through structural and relational pressures, and (c) family as a stabilizing resource in an unstable occupational context. Participants reported emotional and logistical challenges linked to travel, unpredictable schedules, and job insecurity. While parenting and financial responsibilities intensified stress, spouses and children were also identified as sources of emotional grounding. Findings highlight the complexity of family in elite coaching and the need for organizational policies to support coach well-being.
Team captains play a crucial role in enhancing leadership and effectiveness of coaches in professional sport. For instance, research has demonstrated that effective captains can reduce the managerial workload for coaches. Yet, much remains unknown about the team captaincy selection process particularly outside of traditional Eurocentric and youth sport contexts. This study addresses the gap by exploring factors influencing captain identification and selection among Turkish professional football coaches. Individual interviews were conducted with nine male coaches, and reflexive thematic analysis were applied to the research data. Findings indicate that personal characteristics, leadership skills, athletic achievements relationships, and familiarity are key determinants in captain selection. Although head coaches are perceived as mainly responsible, leadership attributes emerge as the central criterion, though final decisions rest with club management. These insights highlight the importance of prioritizing leadership qualities when selecting captains, offering practical guidance for coaches in Turkey and broader professional sport contexts.
This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of a sport-specific acceptance and commitment therapy group intervention enhancing athletes' mental well-being. Acceptance and commitment therapy is a cognitive-behavioral approach including psychological flexibility skills training to promote mental well-being in sport. In addition, we examined new skills acquired by the athletes and individual differences in their experiences. A total of 43 athletes who completed the intervention were surveyed at the end of the intervention using semistructured questionnaires and a thematic analysis. Overall, 93% of athletes found the intervention useful or very useful, and all of the athletes recommended the intervention to other athletes. The thematic analysis revealed the themes of increased acceptance and present-moment skills, self-awareness, and value-based actions. The results indicate that the intervention is feasible and accepted by athletes. All athletes, regardless of gender, age, or sport, found the intervention useful.
Understanding the coaching strategies behind South Korea's peak athletic performance in taekwondo is important. This study aimed to explore the optimal coaching experiences of South Korean Olympic gold medalists in taekwondo. Data from four such gold medalists were collected through in-depth interviews and analyzed using the grounded theory. Through open coding of the coaching experiences, 27 categories and 67 subcategories were derived. Axial coding based on the open coding results revealed key paradigm categories: relationship, athlete's initial condition, coach's expertise, optimal coaching, coaching environment, athlete's response, demonstrating peak performance, and postevent outcomes. The core category that united all other categories was "demonstration of peak athletic performance through optimal coaching." In summary, taekwondo coaches conduct organized an intense training that considers the athletes' skill level. This study's findings provide insight into coaching factors that create Olympic gold medalists in taekwondo and how they specifically interact with each other.
Climbing is one of the fastest growing sports in the world. As a high-risk sport, climbers are likely to experience fear (an emotional response to threat), yet we understand little about how climbers experience fear, how this impacts performance, and what beliefs underpin this experience. The current study aimed to explore how rational emotive behavior therapy could help sport climbers who experience fear. Five sport climbers participated in a series of rational emotive behavior therapy workshops, and three were interviewed. The findings from an interpretative phenomenological analysis of the data suggest that fear was not helpful for performance and was related to pressure to perform, not danger to physical safety. A tentative finding was that rational emotive behavior therapy gave the sport climbers space and freedom from these expectations, allowing exploration and enjoyment. Practical recommendations are discussed.
Although psychological training is now standard in high-performance sports, the specific challenges faced by elite athletes vary considerably across disciplines. Sailing, an outdoor sport influenced by unpredictable environmental conditions and complex team dynamics, presents unique psychological demands. As a result, existing psychological frameworks may not be fully adequate to prepare sailors for the mental pressures unique to their sport. This study investigates the lived experiences of elite Croatian sailors to understand this ongoing process of psychological adaptation. Using a pragmatic qualitative approach, 14 semistructured interviews were conducted and analyzed through thematic analysis. The results reveal a cyclical adaptation process organized into three interconnected themes: (a) a distinct set of psychological challenges, covering internal, interpersonal, and environmental factors, that necessitate regulation; (b) the proactive strategies that athletes develop to anticipate and reduce these stressors; and (c) the reactive coping mechanisms that they employ in the moment to handle them. This framework, which emphasizes how sailors' personalized routines and mental skills are shaped by experience, highlights the importance of context-specific psychological support and provides a model for enhancing athlete development in similarly demanding performance settings.
The purpose of this study was to understand how female dual-career athletes in professional ice hockey think about their retirement from sport. Ten professional ice hockey players, each employed full-time, participated in individual semistructured interviews. Using reflexive thematic analysis, we identified themes and subthemes that prevented and reinforced their retirement. Every athlete expressed a profound sense of purpose and identity tied to hockey, driven not only by personal fulfillment but also by a moral responsibility to inspire and create better opportunities for future generations of women in the sport. Conversely, societal expectations, career demands, and the pursuit of a more stable life beyond the rink created mounting pressure, ultimately reinforcing thoughts of stepping away from the sport that they deeply loved. This work provides insight into the emotional and practical challenges surrounding athletic retirement and the broader inequities within women's professional sport.
We know that athlete mental health (MH) is influenced by a range of stressors, however, the impact of sport culture is less understood. The purpose of this study was to explore Canadian athletes' experiences regarding the interplay between their sport culture, sport performance, and mental triad profile (MH, mental performance, mental illness symptoms). Semistructured interviews were conducted with 22 athletes who were training for the Tokyo (n = 13) or Beijing (n = 9) Olympic/Paralympic Games. Using a reflexive thematic analysis, characteristics of sport cultures perceived as supportive and nonsupportive of favorable mental triad and sport performance profiles were identified. Themes were woven into four composite vignettes representing the perspectives of athletes with varying profiles and performance experiences. Vignettes underscore the importance of integrating MH literacy as a core educational component within sport environments, linking MH and mental performance, and establishing sport cultures that prioritize transparency, communication, and support.
Recent speculation regarding the viability of the sport and performance psychology (SPPsy) profession has triggered concerns for its future. In the present professional society-funded study, we used semistructured interviews to explore how 18 SPPsy practitioners perceived employment opportunities, barriers, and professional organizational support, as well as how their training and qualifications prepared them for their career and progression. Following a reflexive thematic analysis, four themes and eleven related subthemes were constructed as follows: (a) the sport psychology profession, (b) the Association of Applied Sport Psychology (AASP), (c) entering the profession, and (d) working as a sport psychology practitioner. Findings illuminate current and evolving challenges such as working with unique clients and competition for roles between clinical and mental performance practitioners. The importance of AASP and the value it provides to the membership, particularly in North America, was also clear in these results. Organizational issues requiring attention were also observed. Finally, experiences of entry into the profession and discussion of how their expertise is received contribute to our understanding of the challenges inherent in becoming a SPPsy practitioner. In turn, we outline implications for research and practice by offering considerations for SPPsy practitioners and professional societies, such as AASP, to enhance and strengthen the SPPsy profession.
Our study investigated the mental health experiences of physiotherapists working in male professional Norwegian football. Semistructured interviews with 16 male participants from 14 different football clubs in Norway's top two divisions for men were conducted. The interviews revealed that the overall experience of working in football was positive. However, participants revealed several concerns regarding their role in professional football. Following a thematic analysis, four themes were constructed: "In the firing line," "Injuries that hurt both ways," "Always on call-Often off balance," and "Sidelining family for football." These themes represented the most challenging aspects of being a physiotherapist in professional Norwegian football, how it affected the physiotherapists mental health, and the coping strategies that they used when faced with these challenges. Areas for improvement are highlighted; these include the need for increased social support from governing bodies and clubs, improved work-life balance, improved communication, and more opportunities for professional development.
This project examined the mental health and well-being of swimming coaches in the United Kingdom. We explored the impact of workplace stressors and the satisfaction or thwarting of coaches' basic psychological needs on mental ill-health, well-being, and burnout. Using a mixed-method design, 146 coaches across competitive levels completed an online questionnaire assessing symptoms of mental ill-health, well-being, burnout, stressors, and basic psychological needs and open-ended questions about their coaching experiences. Workload and (a lack of) work-life balance, feeling isolated, undermined, perceiving a lack of support, and the satisfaction or thwarting of basic psychological needs were key drivers for coaches' symptoms of mental illhealth, well-being, and burnout. Coaches had limited awareness of support services. Findings highlight the need for multilevel interventions: at an individual level, improved mental health education, coping resources, and access to services; and at an organizational level, strategies to ensure manageable workloads and identify and support coaches at risk.
Self-compassion may protect against poor mental health, but its role in adults engaged in competitive sport is less known. This study examined self-compassion and depression symptoms in masters athletes (N = 133, 39.1% female, M-age = 54.3 years, M-VO2max = 45.9 mlkg(-1)min(-1)), exploring training factors as covariates. Participants completed questionnaires and fitness tests. Average self-compassion was high (M = 3.58, SD = 0.55), with 54.9% scoring above a clinical threshold for depression. No significant sex differences were found in self-compassion or depression symptoms. As hypothesized, higher self-compassion was significantly associated with fewer depression symptoms (beta = -2.67, SE = 0.52, p < .001). None of the covariates (sex, age, body mass index, maximal aerobic capacity, training hours, and competitions per year) were significantly linked to depression. The model explained 15% of depression variance. These findings suggest that self-compassion interventions could be a useful strategy to reduce depression symptoms in masters athletes.
Previous research indicates that participation in academy football potentially poses mental well-being risks. Accordingly, we developed a mental well-being screening process in an academy. We reviewed the mental well-being literature to understand how the construct might be best conceptualized and assessed and to identify a brief, valid, and adolescent-friendly screening tool. Keyes's Mental Health Continuum-Short Form was deemed suitable due to its theoretical relevance and psychometric properties. We adapted this questionnaire for use with academy players, editing items to enhance their applicability and removing irrelevant items. Players, guided by staff members, then completed this measure and discussed their responses. Using the collected data, we also tested its psychometric properties. The resulting screening process facilitates the detection and support of players at risk, an understanding of the prevalence of good and poor mental well-being in this population, and an appreciation of the factors that affect their mental well-being.
Recently, the importance of mental health awareness within sporting domains has grown, contributing to increasing numbers of mental health education programs. Although these programs are designed to enhance mental health awareness and promote engagement, their influence can be unclear. A key factor influencing program efficacy is the contextual understanding of mental health. The aim of this study was to gain athletes' perspectives of mental health in a professional rugby context. Semistructured interviews were conducted with nine male professional rugby players and analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. Broad themes from participant interviews indicated a growing acceptance and awareness of mental health, a recognition that barriers to engaging in mental health support related to hegemonic masculinity, and that effective pathways required both individual and systemic factors. Although players increasingly recognized the importance of mental health, cultural expectations around toughness, stigma, and performance continued to shape emotional expression and engagement with support.
While mindfulness-based interventions are shown to enhance performance and well-being, little is known about how athletes perceive these concepts. Some researchers argue that blending Eastern mindfulness with Western psychology may limit mindfulness-based interventions' effectiveness. This study explores U.S. college athletes' expectations and understanding of mindfulness and self-compassion and how these evolve through a 7-week mindfulness-based intervention. Interviews were conducted before (n = 26) and after (n = 16) the intervention, and data were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. Results revealed multiple levels of change, suggesting that expectations may influence outcomes and limited understanding may have restricted benefits. Findings also indicate that ambiguity from combining Eastern and Western approaches may contribute to confusion among athletes. Notably, a deeper understanding of mindfulness and self-compassion appeared linked to perceived improvements in mental efficiency and mindset. These insights underscore the importance of addressing athletes' conceptualizations of mindfulness and self-compassion to optimize intervention outcomes.
Elite athletes frequently experience disrupted sleep, which can harm both performance and mental health. This feasibility study evaluated a 5-week guided digital sleep intervention for elite athletes (N=16, Mage = 20.5 years, Mweekly training hours = 18.6). The intervention combined an in-person workshop, a structured sleep application, and weekly motivational cues. Using quantitative and qualitative data, we examined preliminary changes in sleep problems (e.g., difficulty maintaining sleep), symptoms of depression and anxiety, and wellbeing, alongside application engagement and implementation feedback. Outcomes were assessed baseline, preintervention, postintervention, and at 2-month follow-up. Athletes engaged consistently and rated the program relevant and acceptable. Repeatedmeasures analyses of variance showed reductions in sleep problems and depressive symptoms from baseline/preintervention to postintervention but not maintained at follow-up. No meaningful changes appeared for anxiety symptoms or well-being. Findings suggest that the guided digital sleep intervention is feasible for elite athletes, supporting further evaluation in a larger controlled trial.
