Constructions of athlete mental health post-retirement: a discursive analysis of stigmatising and legitimising versions of transition distress in the Australian broadcast media
- Cosh, Suzanne, Crabb, Shona, McNeil, Dominic, Tully, Phillip
- Authors: Cosh, Suzanne , Crabb, Shona , McNeil, Dominic , Tully, Phillip
- Date: 2022
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health Vol. 14, no. 7 (2022), p. 1045-1069
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- Description: Athletes are vulnerable to experiencing mental health disorders, yet, disclosure and help-seeking around mental health remains low, with stigma the most widely reported barrier. However, the ways in which stigma around mental health may be produced (or resisted) in dominant constructions of athlete mental health remain under examined. This study explores constructions of athlete mental health into retirement in an example of Australian broadcast media, with consideration of the ways in which these representations might function to reproduce and perpetuate (or not) stigmatising versions of athlete mental health. Data from a two-part special of a current affairs programme focusing on transition difficulties and poor mental health of nine retired athletes were analysed using Discursive Psychology. Analysis focused on identifying the constructions of mental health and recovery produced in this broadcast, with consideration as to how these depictions might function to perpetuate and/or resist stigma. Mental health was constructed in two key ways–biomedical and life-stress–which externalised mental health. Recovery was, conversely, located as solely the individual’s responsibility and was depicted as achieved through self-awareness and engaging in new pursuits. Thus, individual experiences of mental health disorders were partially legitimised through externalising blame and presenting a plurality of depictions, yet did not redress stigma around transition distress more broadly by overlooking contextual factors. Depictions trivialised recovery, potentially functioning to stigmatise long-term or chronic mental health experiences as well as help-seeking. These results inform ways in which stigma around athlete mental health may be challenged, and implications for practice are discussed. © 2022 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
- Authors: Cosh, Suzanne , Crabb, Shona , McNeil, Dominic , Tully, Phillip
- Date: 2022
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health Vol. 14, no. 7 (2022), p. 1045-1069
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Athletes are vulnerable to experiencing mental health disorders, yet, disclosure and help-seeking around mental health remains low, with stigma the most widely reported barrier. However, the ways in which stigma around mental health may be produced (or resisted) in dominant constructions of athlete mental health remain under examined. This study explores constructions of athlete mental health into retirement in an example of Australian broadcast media, with consideration of the ways in which these representations might function to reproduce and perpetuate (or not) stigmatising versions of athlete mental health. Data from a two-part special of a current affairs programme focusing on transition difficulties and poor mental health of nine retired athletes were analysed using Discursive Psychology. Analysis focused on identifying the constructions of mental health and recovery produced in this broadcast, with consideration as to how these depictions might function to perpetuate and/or resist stigma. Mental health was constructed in two key ways–biomedical and life-stress–which externalised mental health. Recovery was, conversely, located as solely the individual’s responsibility and was depicted as achieved through self-awareness and engaging in new pursuits. Thus, individual experiences of mental health disorders were partially legitimised through externalising blame and presenting a plurality of depictions, yet did not redress stigma around transition distress more broadly by overlooking contextual factors. Depictions trivialised recovery, potentially functioning to stigmatise long-term or chronic mental health experiences as well as help-seeking. These results inform ways in which stigma around athlete mental health may be challenged, and implications for practice are discussed. © 2022 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
Classifying excessive exercise : examining the relationship between compulsive exercise with obsessive-compulsive disorder symptoms and disordered eating symptoms
- Cosh, Suzanne, Eshkevari, Ertimiss, McNeil, Dominic, Tully, Phillip
- Authors: Cosh, Suzanne , Eshkevari, Ertimiss , McNeil, Dominic , Tully, Phillip
- Date: 2023
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: European Eating Disorders Review Vol. 31, no. 6 (2023), p. 769-780
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- Description: Objective: There remains a lack of consensus around nosology for compulsive exercise (CE). Although widely observed in eating disorders (ED), CE shares theoretical overlap with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), where exercise compulsions occur in response to obsessions. Yet, there is limited and mixed evidence of a relationship between CE with OCD. This study aims to explore the appropriate diagnostic classification of CE through examination of CE in relation to OCD, obsessional thinking, and ED symptoms. Method: Two hundred and eighty one adults with mental health symptoms, dieting, and exercise behaviour completed measures of OCD, CE, and disordered eating symptoms. Regression and Receiver Operating Characteristic analyses examined relationships between dimensions of CE with OCD and ED symptoms, and the predictive ability of CE assessment for detecting threshold OCD and ED symptoms. Results: CE assessment was poor at predicting threshold OCD symptoms, probable Anorexia Nervosa, and Binge Eating Disorder and moderate at detecting probable disordered eating and Bulimia Nervosa. Associations between CE and OCD symptoms were not significant after adjustment for ED symptoms. Obsessional thinking was associated only with lack of exercise enjoyment. Conclusions: Results indicate that excessive exercise might represent a distinct disorder, with some shared traits across CE, OCD and ED symptoms. Findings question the utility of adaptation of OCD diagnostic criteria for CE. Assessment and treatment implications are considered. © 2023 The Authors. European Eating Disorders Review published by Eating Disorders Association and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
- Authors: Cosh, Suzanne , Eshkevari, Ertimiss , McNeil, Dominic , Tully, Phillip
- Date: 2023
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: European Eating Disorders Review Vol. 31, no. 6 (2023), p. 769-780
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- Reviewed:
- Description: Objective: There remains a lack of consensus around nosology for compulsive exercise (CE). Although widely observed in eating disorders (ED), CE shares theoretical overlap with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), where exercise compulsions occur in response to obsessions. Yet, there is limited and mixed evidence of a relationship between CE with OCD. This study aims to explore the appropriate diagnostic classification of CE through examination of CE in relation to OCD, obsessional thinking, and ED symptoms. Method: Two hundred and eighty one adults with mental health symptoms, dieting, and exercise behaviour completed measures of OCD, CE, and disordered eating symptoms. Regression and Receiver Operating Characteristic analyses examined relationships between dimensions of CE with OCD and ED symptoms, and the predictive ability of CE assessment for detecting threshold OCD and ED symptoms. Results: CE assessment was poor at predicting threshold OCD symptoms, probable Anorexia Nervosa, and Binge Eating Disorder and moderate at detecting probable disordered eating and Bulimia Nervosa. Associations between CE and OCD symptoms were not significant after adjustment for ED symptoms. Obsessional thinking was associated only with lack of exercise enjoyment. Conclusions: Results indicate that excessive exercise might represent a distinct disorder, with some shared traits across CE, OCD and ED symptoms. Findings question the utility of adaptation of OCD diagnostic criteria for CE. Assessment and treatment implications are considered. © 2023 The Authors. European Eating Disorders Review published by Eating Disorders Association and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
- Cosh, Suzanne, McNeil, Dominic, Tully, Phillip
- Authors: Cosh, Suzanne , McNeil, Dominic , Tully, Phillip
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Qualitative research in sport, exercise and health Vol. 13, no. 4 (2021), p. 604-623
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- Description: Up to 20% of retiring athletes continue to experience crisis transitions, characterised by a lack of adjustment, ongoing psychological distress, depression and low self-esteem. Crisis transitions remain under researched compared with transition difficulties, especially within cultural sport psychology. This study aims to explore crisis transitions and related psychological distress within a cultural context. The media is a site of cultural exploration, thus this study examines data from the Australian media: specifically, a two-part special of a current affairs programme (120 minutes of footage) that examined the crisis transitions of nine former elite Australian athletes. Data were analysed using inductive thematic analysis, located within a constructionist epistemology. The focus of analysis was on the broad repeated patterns of representation around experiences of and reasons for crisis transitions. Athletes depicted transitions predominately as difficult, invoking diagnostic language, including depression and substance abuse, to further constructions of transition distress. However, transition was also presented as a relief and an ongoing process, using varying constructions of choice in order to produce different versions of retirement. A range of themes were identified in accounting for these experiences during crisis transitions: sport was constructed as an addiction, inactivity partly related to lack of activities and self-worth was invoked, as well as constructions of abandonment by sporting organisations. The findings contribute to the cultural praxis of transitions and crisis transition literature by extending understanding around these experiences and resultant poor athlete mental health. Implications for career assistance programs and supporting retiring athletes are outlined.
Compulsive exercise and its relationship with mental health and psychosocial wellbeing in recreational exercisers and athletes
- Cosh, Suzanne, McNeil, Dominic, Tully, Phillip
- Authors: Cosh, Suzanne , McNeil, Dominic , Tully, Phillip
- Date: 2023
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport Vol. 26, no. 7 (2023), p. 338-344
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- Description: Objectives: Better understanding of compulsive exercise is needed in sports medicine. Whilst compulsive exercise may impact mental health, the limited research exploring the relationship between compulsive exercise and psychosocial outcomes is equivocal. The majority of studies have examined eating disorder populations where the eating disorder pathology might account for distress. This study explores relationships between compulsive exercise and mental health. Design: Cross-sectional observational study. Methods: Australian recreational exercisers and athletes (N = 1157; Mage 36.4, standard deviation = 12.9, 77 % female) recruited through sporting organisations, clubs, and gyms, completed measures of compulsive exercise, depression, anxiety, stress, life satisfaction, social physique anxiety, and self-esteem. Regression analyses examined relationships between dimensions of compulsive exercise and wellbeing. Results: After adjustment for eating disorder symptoms and sporting level, compulsive exercise was associated with increased risk of clinically-significant anxiety, depression, and stress symptoms. Compulsive exercise was also associated with lower life satisfaction and self-esteem, and higher social physique anxiety. Notably, different dimensions of compulsive exercise had varying relationships with outcomes, and avoidance and rule-driven behaviour and lack of exercise enjoyment were associated with poorer mental health and wellbeing. Conclusions: Results suggest that compulsive exercise is uniquely associated with a range of psychosocial and mental health outcomes. Results support the need to improve identification and treatment of compulsive exercise in sport and exercise settings. Results highlight that mental health intervention is an important component of treatment, and treatments targeting symptoms related to avoidance and rule-driven behaviour, and anhedonia may be valuable treatment components for those with compulsive exercise. © 2023 The Author(s)
- Authors: Cosh, Suzanne , McNeil, Dominic , Tully, Phillip
- Date: 2023
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport Vol. 26, no. 7 (2023), p. 338-344
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Objectives: Better understanding of compulsive exercise is needed in sports medicine. Whilst compulsive exercise may impact mental health, the limited research exploring the relationship between compulsive exercise and psychosocial outcomes is equivocal. The majority of studies have examined eating disorder populations where the eating disorder pathology might account for distress. This study explores relationships between compulsive exercise and mental health. Design: Cross-sectional observational study. Methods: Australian recreational exercisers and athletes (N = 1157; Mage 36.4, standard deviation = 12.9, 77 % female) recruited through sporting organisations, clubs, and gyms, completed measures of compulsive exercise, depression, anxiety, stress, life satisfaction, social physique anxiety, and self-esteem. Regression analyses examined relationships between dimensions of compulsive exercise and wellbeing. Results: After adjustment for eating disorder symptoms and sporting level, compulsive exercise was associated with increased risk of clinically-significant anxiety, depression, and stress symptoms. Compulsive exercise was also associated with lower life satisfaction and self-esteem, and higher social physique anxiety. Notably, different dimensions of compulsive exercise had varying relationships with outcomes, and avoidance and rule-driven behaviour and lack of exercise enjoyment were associated with poorer mental health and wellbeing. Conclusions: Results suggest that compulsive exercise is uniquely associated with a range of psychosocial and mental health outcomes. Results support the need to improve identification and treatment of compulsive exercise in sport and exercise settings. Results highlight that mental health intervention is an important component of treatment, and treatments targeting symptoms related to avoidance and rule-driven behaviour, and anhedonia may be valuable treatment components for those with compulsive exercise. © 2023 The Author(s)
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