Department of Kinesiology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
School of Kinesiology, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada.
J Adolesc. 2021 Jun;89:63-73. doi: 10.1016/j.adolescence.2021.04.003. Epub 2021 Apr 16.
Body image concerns may contribute to poor sport experiences and low sport participation in girls. Objectification theory and evidence from studies in non-sport contexts suggests body talk may elicit an environment that fosters negative body image. However, the phenomenon of body talk within adolescent girls sport is not well-understood from an in-depth person-centered perspective. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to explore adolescent girl athletes' experiences of body talk within sport.
Twenty Canadian girl athletes (ages 14-18 years) enrolled in team-based non-aesthetic sports participated in one semi-structured interview. Using a qualitative description approach, an inductive thematic analysis was used to generate three themes.
"Body talk as a performance tactic" highlighted complimentary and negative body talk pertaining to sport performance came from coaches, opposing players, and parents. "Casual conversations and body talk" reflected body talk from teammates and male spectators that was not specific to sport but occurred in the sport context. "Coping with body talk" reflected strategies athletes used to combat negative body talk from teammates, and reflected the athletes' perceptions that negativity towards the body is normative.
Body talk served many purposes within sport; researchers should further explore the diverse motivations and perceived utility of body talk across sport stakeholders. Creating standardized resources and policies to eliminate body talk may foster more positive and supportive sport experiences for girls.
身体意象问题可能导致女孩运动体验不佳和参与度低。客观化理论和来自非运动背景研究的证据表明，身体谈话可能会营造出一个助长负面身体意象的环境。然而，从深入的以人为中心的角度来看，青少年女孩运动中的身体谈话现象还没有得到很好的理解。因此，本研究的目的是探讨青少年女运动员在运动中对身体谈话的体验。
20 名加拿大女运动员（年龄 14-18 岁）参加了基于团队的非审美运动，他们参加了一次半结构化访谈。采用定性描述方法，进行了归纳主题分析，得出了三个主题。
“身体谈话作为一种表现策略”突出了教练、对手球员和家长对运动表现的赞扬和负面的身体谈话。“随意的对话和身体谈话”反映了来自队友和男性观众的身体谈话，这些谈话与运动无关，但发生在运动背景中。“应对身体谈话”反映了运动员用来对抗队友负面身体谈话的策略，反映了运动员对身体负面看法是正常的看法。
身体谈话在运动中具有多种用途；研究人员应进一步探讨身体谈话在运动利益相关者中的不同动机和感知效用。制定消除身体谈话的标准化资源和政策可能会为女孩创造更积极和支持性的运动体验。
