Mental Health of Elite Sport Coaches and Entourage
Abstract
There is growing understanding of the extent of mental health problems, and related mental health needs, among elite athletes. However, far less attention has been paid to mental health among elite coaches and high-performance support staff, the latter including strength and conditioning coaches, physiotherapists, sport psychologists, and other allied health workers in the daily training environment (high-performance support staff are referred to collectively as "entourage" throughout this article). The scarcity of research examining mental health among elite coaches and entourage warrants urgent attention, particularly given these individuals share similar performance demands and role-related stressors as elite athletes. This article reviews the available literature on this topic, including (1) an empirical study conducted by the authors with a sample of coaches and entourage from Australia's national high-performance sport system and (2) a case example to illustrate sport-specific and general risk factors that are likely to impact mental health in elite sporting environments. Avenues for supporting mental health among coaches and entourage are discussed.
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Research has primarily examined mental health outcomes of elite athletes, with comparatively less research focusing on coaches.
“To date, research has primarily examined the mental health outcomes of elite athletes [15–18], with comparatively less research focusing on understanding these psychological experiences among coaches [19].”
From The Mental Health of Elite-Level Coaches: A Systematic Scoping Review (2024) · cites this paper as [19]
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The Mental Health of Elite-Level Coaches: A Systematic Scoping Review
Frost, J., Walton, C. C., Purcell, R., Fisher, K., Gwyther, K., Kocherginsky, M., & Rice, S. M. (2024) · Sports Medicine - Open · doi:10.1186/s40798-023-00655-8 · Cited by 59 · see citing works
“To date, research has primarily examined the mental health outcomes of elite athletes [15–18], with comparatively less research focusing on understanding these psychological experiences among coaches [19].”
BackgroundSelf-citation
- Authors
- Purcell, R., Frost, J., & Pilkington, V.
- Affiliations
- The University of Melbourne (AU)
- Corresponding author
- Purcell, Rosemary
- Venue
- Clinics in Sports Medicine
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2024-01
- Volume
- 43
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 199-211
- ISSN
- 0278-5919 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W4384700772
- Cited by
- 14
- References
- 70
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 1
- FWCI
- 0.81
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- Locations
- Clinics in Sports Medicine (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Sport Psychology and Performance
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychological Treatments and Assessments
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › COVID-19 and Mental Health
- Keywords
- mental health, performance requirements, risk factors, mental health support
- MeSH terms
- Humans, Mental Health, Sports, Athletes
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