| Description |
When athletes "uncritically accept" the demands of their sport and the tenants of the sport ethic, negative health consequences are all but inevitable. Whether it be poor injury management, the abuse of performance enhancing substances, or unhealthy eating habits, the "uncritical acceptance" of sport norms can lead to overconformity to the sport ethic. Researchers have theorized that antecedents, such as overconformity, affect athletes? communication with their coaches, which then affects the coach-athlete partnership and thus various health consequences including disordered eating behaviors. The influence of the coach on disordered eating behaviors may be a product of factors related to overconformity to the sport ethic, subsequent issues with coach communication regarding recommendations for weight management, and the strength of the coach-athlete relationship. Few published studies to date have explored the nature of the relationship between athletes? perceptions of coach pressure and disordered eating patterns and no published studies to date have examined the role of the coach-athlete partnership on this relationship. The present study included female varsity athletes and dancers from four universities. Participants completed a questionnaire packet to measure weight-related coach pressure, the coach-athlete partnership, and disordered eating behaviors. Of the 248 participants, 13.30% exhibited disordered eating behaviors. An additional 2.0% reported being diagnosed in the past; however, the 25% of athletes who reported having a teammate with an eating disorder may indicate that underreporting was an issue with this study. Perceived weight-related coach pressure and coach-athlete partnerships explained approximately 13% of the variance of disordered eating behaviors in this sample, but predictability was moderated by sport type. Mediational analysis revealed that the coach-athlete partnership was a partial mediating variable; nevertheless, limitations in the data warrant future research. Understanding the contribution of coaches to disordered eating behaviors is important as they can lead to clinical eating disorders and a wide array of short-term and long-term health consequences. Subsequently, strong relationships between coaches and their athletes may reduce the negative impact of perceived weight-related coach pressure on the development or exacerbation of disordered eating behaviors in female collegiate athletes. Identifying this mechanism may provide practitioners with an effective point of intervention. |
