Institute for Health and Sport, Victoria University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
Federation University, Ballarat, VIC, Australia.
J Interpers Violence. 2023 Feb;38(3-4):4338-4365. doi: 10.1177/08862605221114155. Epub 2022 Aug 9.
Childhood sport participation is associated with physical, social, and mental health benefits, which are more likely to be realized if the sport environment is safe. However, our understanding of children's experience of psychological, physical, and sexual violence in community sport in Australia is limited. The aims of this study were to provide preliminary evidence on the extent of experiences of violence during childhood participation in Australian community sport and to identify common perpetrators of and risk factors for violence. The Violence Towards Athletes Questionnaire (VTAQ) was administered online to a convenience sample of Australian adults (>18 years), retrospectively reporting experiences of violence during childhood community sport. Frequencies of experience of violence were calculated and Chi-square tests were conducted to determine differences between genders. In total, there were 886 respondents included in the analysis. Most survey respondents were women (63%) and about a third were men (35%). About 82% of respondents experienced violence in sport as a child. Psychological violence was most prevalent (76%), followed by physical (66%) and sexual (38%) violence. Peers perpetrated the highest rates of psychological violence (69%), and the rates of physical and psychological violence by coaches (both >50%) were also high. Age, sexual orientation, disability, and hours of weekly sport participation as a child were all associated with childhood experience of violence in sport. The rates of interpersonal violence against children in sport were high. This novel data on perpetrators of the violence and the risk factors for experiencing violence provides further context to inform safeguarding strategies in sport. A national prevalence study is recommended to advance our understanding of the childhood experiences of violence in Australian sport.
儿童参与体育运动与身体健康、社交能力和心理健康息息相关，如果运动环境安全，这些益处更有可能实现。然而，我们对澳大利亚社区体育中儿童经历的心理、身体和性暴力的理解有限。本研究旨在提供有关澳大利亚社区体育中儿童暴力经历的程度的初步证据，并确定暴力的常见肇事者和风险因素。采用《运动员暴力问卷》（VTAQ）对澳大利亚成年人（>18 岁）进行了在线便利抽样调查，对他们在儿童社区体育期间经历暴力的情况进行了回顾性报告。计算了经历暴力的频率，并进行了卡方检验，以确定性别之间的差异。共有 886 名受访者纳入分析。大多数调查受访者为女性（63%），约三分之一为男性（35%）。约 82%的受访者在儿童时期经历过体育暴力。心理暴力最为普遍（76%），其次是身体暴力（66%）和性暴力（38%）。同龄人实施的心理暴力率最高（69%），教练实施的身体和心理暴力率也很高（均超过 50%）。年龄、性取向、残疾和儿童时期每周参与体育运动的时间长短均与儿童时期在体育运动中经历暴力有关。运动中针对儿童的人际暴力发生率很高。这些关于暴力肇事者和经历暴力风险因素的新数据为体育中的保护策略提供了更多的背景信息。建议开展全国流行性病学研究，以增进我们对澳大利亚体育运动中儿童暴力经历的理解。
