Emotional abuse in sport: A case study of trichotillomania in a prepubescent female gymnast

This article is made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund. Copyright @ 2013 Gervis M, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.Despite improved legislation in most countries, child abuse in sport continues to exist but is a problem which is often under reported or ignored. In elite sport ‘suffering’ is not uncommon and hence sometimes child abuse is sometimes unrecognised, de-emphasised or easily dismissed as part of a collective experience that is perceived to be necessary to ‘create’ elite athletes. However, even swearing, anger, raised voices and negative comments directed at child athletes by coaches is considered abuse and can, when regular and routine, cause long term wellbeing and health issues. Self-harm can be a consequence and here self-harm in the form of trichotillomania, self hair-pulling, is reported for the first time as a secondary consequence of abuse. The 12 year old female gymnast, subject of this case study, presented with this impulse control disorder as defined by the American Psychiatric Association and was successfully treated using cognitive behavioural therapy. However, the training environment, including coach behaviour, did not change and so the gymnast remained at risk of recurrence of self-harm. Such environments in sport have many characteristics in common with and reminiscent of religious cults; sacrifice, isolation, shared obsession, a charismatic leader, and often in the presence of severe calorie restriction. As a consequence of ageing, growth, injury and an unchanging abusive environment, a year later the gymnast retired from the sport

The use of counselling principles and skills to develop practitioner-athlete relationships by practitioners who provide sport psychology support

This study examined how practitioners who provide sport psychology support use counselling principles and skills to develop practitioner-athlete relationships. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with thirteen competent practitioners (Mean age = 41.2 ± 10.9 years old, five men, eight women). Thematic analysis revealed that the participants used a range of counselling principles to develop practitioner-athlete relationships including: the facilitative conditions, self-disclosure, counselling skills, the formation of working alliances, and awareness of the unreal relationship. The participants also described using non-counselling strategies (e.g., gaining an understanding of the athlete’s sporting environment) to build relationships with their athletes. There was considerable variation between the participants both in the training that they had received in counselling principles and skills, and how they applied them. It was concluded that counselling principles and skills play a significant role in the development of practitioner-athlete relationships

The BASES expert statement in safeguarding in the sport sciences.

Within the context of sport and exercise science, safeguarding concerns a professional obligation to protect all parties (for example the client, athlete and/or self) from maltreatment or harm (Mountjoy et al., 2016). Safeguarding should embrace relational (others), individual (self) and organisational (culture) considerations. The understanding of physical, emotional and social well-being and freedom from discrimination are the focus of safeguarding education. In this expert statement we provide information in three key areas: 1) a brief summary of the research themes and findings surrounding maltreatment in sport; 2) a discussion of safeguarding within the sport and exercise profession and finally; 3) recommendations for sport and exercise scientists on matters of safeguarding

Perceptions of emotional abuse in the coach-athlete relationship in youth sport: The influence of competitive level and outcome

Emotional abuse has been highlighted as a key issue within the youth sport context. The present study investigated how perceptions of emotional abuse are influenced by situational factors. Two hundred and eight participants (107 athletes and 101 coaches) were shown a series of vignettes depicting emotionally abusive behaviour by a coach towards a 14 year old athlete. Differences in perceptions were explored in relation to the level of competition (elite, county and club) and performance outcome (successful/unsuccessful) depicted in the vignette. Participants rated each vignette on a 5 point scale in terms of the extent to which the coach’s behaviour had an impact on the athlete’s performance and wellbeing as well as the perceived commonality and acceptability of the behaviour. Two-way ANOVAs revealed that competitive level and performance outcome, both as main effects and as an interaction, significantly influenced perceptions. These findings can inform policy and practice to change attitudes and behaviours which support and justify emotionally abusive behaviours in youth sport contexts

Beyond communication: The role of standardized protocols in a changing health care environment

Background: Communication errors have grave consequences in health care settings. The situationYbackgroundY assessmentYrecommendation (SBAR) protocol has been theorized to improve communication by creating a common language between nurses and physicians in acute care situations. This practice is gaining acceptance across the health care field. However, as yet, there has been little investigation of the ways in which SBAR may have an impact on how health care professionals operate beyond the creation of a common language. Purpose: The purposes of the study were to explore the implementation of the SBAR protocol and investigate the potential impact of SBAR on the day-to-day experiences of nurses. Methods: We performed a qualitative case study of 2 hospitals that were implementing the SBAR protocol. We collected data from 80 semistructured interviews with nurses, nurse manager, and physicians; observation of nursing and other hospital activities; and documents that pertained to the implementation of the SBAR protocol. Data were analyzed using a thematic approach. Findings: Our analysis revealed 4 dimensions of impact that SBAR has beyond its use as a communication tool: schema formation, development of legitimacy, development of social capital, and reinforcement of dominant logics

Beyond communication: The role of standardized protocols in a changing health care environment

Background: Communication errors have grave consequences in health care settings. The situationYbackgroundY assessmentYrecommendation (SBAR) protocol has been theorized to improve communication by creating a common language between nurses and physicians in acute care situations. This practice is gaining acceptance across the health care field. However, as yet, there has been little investigation of the ways in which SBAR may have an impact on how health care professionals operate beyond the creation of a common language. Purpose: The purposes of the study were to explore the implementation of the SBAR protocol and investigate the potential impact of SBAR on the day-to-day experiences of nurses. Methods: We performed a qualitative case study of 2 hospitals that were implementing the SBAR protocol. We collected data from 80 semistructured interviews with nurses, nurse manager, and physicians; observation of nursing and other hospital activities; and documents that pertained to the implementation of the SBAR protocol. Data were analyzed using a thematic approach. Findings: Our analysis revealed 4 dimensions of impact that SBAR has beyond its use as a communication tool: schema formation, development of legitimacy, development of social capital, and reinforcement of dominant logics

Expert statement on safeguarding in the sport and exercise sciences (Revised).

Within the context of the sport and exercise sciences, the practice of safeguarding concerns that of a professional obligation to protect all parties (for example the client, athlete and/or self) from abuse or harm. Safeguarding should embrace relational (others), individual (self) and organisational (culture) considerations. The understanding of physical, emotional and social well-being and freedom from discrimination are the focus of typical safeguarding education. In this Expert Statement we provide information in three key areas: 1) a brief summary of the research themes and findings surrounding abuse in sport; 2) a discussion of safeguarding within the sport and exercise profession and finally; 3) recommendations for sport and exercise scientists on matters of safeguarding

Production of Designer Mabe Pearls in the Black-lipped Pearl Oyster, Pinctada margaritifera, and the Winged Pearl Oyster, Pteria penguin, from Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India

The black-lipped pearl oyster, Pinctada margaritifera, is sporadically distributed in the Indo-Pacific region, where they have been traditionally used for food, ornaments, jewelry, tools, and more recently for the production of black pearls (Lane et al. 2003). During the past two decades, black pearl farming programs have been initiated by several nations and are now at various levels of productio

The paediatric flat foot and general anthropometry in 140 Australian school children aged 7 - 10 years

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Many studies have found a positive relationship between increased body weight and flat foot posture in children.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>From a study population of 140 children aged seven to 10 years, a sample of 31 children with flat feet was identified by screening with the FPI-6. Basic anthropometric measures were compared between subjects with and without flat feet as designated.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The results of this study, in contrast to many others, question the association of flat feet and heavy children. A significant relationship between foot posture and weight (FPI (L) r = -0.186 (p < 0.05), FPI(R) r = -0.194 (p < 0.05), waist girth (FPI (L) r = -0.213 (p < 0.05), FPI(R) r = -0.228 (p < 0.01) and BMI (FPI (L) r = -0.243 (p < 0.01), FPI(R) r = -0.263 (p < 0.01) was identified, but was both weak and inverse.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This study presents results which conflict with those of many previous investigations addressing the relationship between children's weight and foot posture. In contrast to previous studies, the implication of these results is that heavy children have less flat feet. Further investigation is warranted using a standardized approach to assessment and a larger sample of children to test this apparent contradiction.</p