Faculty of Health, Human Performance Research Centre, University of Technology Sydney, Australia.
Faculty of Health, Human Performance Research Centre, University of Technology Sydney, Australia.
J Sci Med Sport. 2023 Aug;26(8):399-404. doi: 10.1016/j.jsams.2023.06.012. Epub 2023 Jul 11.
Elite sport coaches often rely on their discretion when assisting athletes struggling with mental health, with clear guidelines yet to be broadly adopted. This study aimed to explore how coaches perceive their role in athlete mental health and their role clarity.
This study employed a descriptive qualitative approach with semi-structured interviews.
17 Australian elite level swimming coaches were interviewed, focusing on their perceived experiences with athlete mental health and any discrepancies between what their role is currently and what they perceive it should be. Thematic analysis was used to analyse results.
Analysis revealed that coaches perceive their role to include open communication, actively observing their athletes' mood, and acknowledging their potential mental health knowledge deficits. They also indicated a lack of clarity for when to refer an athlete on to a medical professional. Athletes were perceived as responsible for maintaining self-awareness and help-seeking, whilst the organisational role included providing education and funding. Barriers for supporting athlete mental health included a lack of resources and poor mental health literacy. Coaches suggested a variety of recommendations to ameliorate these barriers including education and redesigning systems of support.
Australian swimming coaches would greatly benefit from formal guidelines on how to identify, manage, and support athlete mental health. These guidelines should be established with input from coaches and key staff, in addition to clinical professionals and utilising evidence-based measures, including consideration of boundaries around coaches as non-mental health professionals.
精英运动教练在帮助有心理健康问题的运动员时，往往依靠自己的判断，目前还没有广泛采用明确的指导方针。本研究旨在探讨教练如何看待自己在运动员心理健康方面的角色以及角色的明确程度。
本研究采用描述性定性方法和半结构化访谈。
对 17 名澳大利亚精英游泳教练进行了采访，重点关注他们对运动员心理健康的感知经验，以及他们目前的角色与他们认为应该扮演的角色之间的任何差异。采用主题分析对结果进行分析。
分析结果显示，教练认为他们的角色包括开放的沟通、积极观察运动员的情绪以及承认他们在潜在心理健康知识方面的不足。他们还表示，在何时将运动员转介给医疗专业人员方面缺乏明确性。运动员被认为有责任保持自我意识和寻求帮助，而组织角色包括提供教育和资金。支持运动员心理健康的障碍包括资源匮乏和心理健康素养低下。教练提出了各种建议来缓解这些障碍，包括教育和重新设计支持系统。
澳大利亚游泳教练非常需要有关如何识别、管理和支持运动员心理健康的正式指导方针。这些准则应该由教练和主要工作人员以及临床专业人员共同制定，并利用基于证据的措施，包括考虑教练作为非心理健康专业人员的界限。
