Class
Article
College
Emma Eccles Jones College of Education and Human Services
Department
Family, Consumer, and Human Development Department
Faculty Mentor
Katharine Alexander
Presentation Type
Poster Presentation
Abstract
While bullying in sporting contexts is thought to be highly prevalent (Parent & Fortier, 2018), it is understudied and not well-defined within the sport psychology literature. Bullying is defined in the general peer aggression literature as repeated, intentional harm of a person across an interpersonal relationship with an asymmetric power balance (Olweus, 1994) and often occurs across peers. Furthermore, the literature highlights how bullying in academic settings is associated with detrimental outcomes, such as depression, anxiety, suicidality, and substance abuse (Armitage, 2021), so the effects that bullying in sport might have on victims and perpetrators are of particular interest. The purpose of this literature review, then, was to qualitatively examine the relationship between bullying in sport and athlete outcomes. A narrative review was conducted using Google Scholar, PsychoInfo, and SportDiscus as databases. Results were organized into themes of mental health and emotional impairments, physical health impairments, decreased performance and dropout, and a culture of aggression and silence. These results highlight the negative outcomes associated with experiences of bullying in sport settings. Coaches and sport organizations should be aware that bullying in sport can have detrimental outcomes for both individual athletes as well as the entire team, and policies should be developed to protect athletes from bullying.
Location
Logan, UT
Start Date
4-12-2023 1:30 PM
End Date
4-12-2023 2:30 PM
Bullying in Sport Harms Athletes Mentally and Physically and Impairs Their Performance
Logan, UT
While bullying in sporting contexts is thought to be highly prevalent (Parent & Fortier, 2018), it is understudied and not well-defined within the sport psychology literature. Bullying is defined in the general peer aggression literature as repeated, intentional harm of a person across an interpersonal relationship with an asymmetric power balance (Olweus, 1994) and often occurs across peers. Furthermore, the literature highlights how bullying in academic settings is associated with detrimental outcomes, such as depression, anxiety, suicidality, and substance abuse (Armitage, 2021), so the effects that bullying in sport might have on victims and perpetrators are of particular interest. The purpose of this literature review, then, was to qualitatively examine the relationship between bullying in sport and athlete outcomes. A narrative review was conducted using Google Scholar, PsychoInfo, and SportDiscus as databases. Results were organized into themes of mental health and emotional impairments, physical health impairments, decreased performance and dropout, and a culture of aggression and silence. These results highlight the negative outcomes associated with experiences of bullying in sport settings. Coaches and sport organizations should be aware that bullying in sport can have detrimental outcomes for both individual athletes as well as the entire team, and policies should be developed to protect athletes from bullying.