Extreme weight control behaviors among adolescent athletes: Links with weight-related maltreatment from parents and coaches and sport ethic norms.

Véronique Boudreault,Noémie Carbonneau,Catherine Bégin,Marie-Pierre Gagnon-Girouard,Sophie Labossière,Sylvie Parent

doi:10.1177/10126902211018672

Abstract

The use of extreme weight-control behaviors is prevalent among adolescent athletes and may result from individual and sport-specific factors. Weight-related maltreatment from coaches and parents, and conformity to sport ethic norms have recently been linked to the use of extreme weight-control behaviors. This study aims to investigate the role of sport ethic norms and weight-related maltreatment from coaches and parents in the use of extreme weight-control behaviors among adolescent athletes. A sample of 999 French-Canadian athletes aged 14–17 years competing in a variety of sports completed an online survey assessing extreme weight-control behaviors, weight-related maltreatment from coaches and parents, and conformity to sport ethic norms. A total of 16.9% of the adolescent athletes reported having adopted extreme weight-control behaviors during their athletic careers. Extreme weight-control behaviors were significantly more prevalent among girls (19.75% vs 9.7% in boys) and weight-class-sport athletes (44%). In addition, 7.4% of the sample experienced at least one type of weight-related maltreatment by coaches or parents. Sex, weight-related neglect by coaches and parents, and weight-related psychological violence by coaches explained 24.4% of extreme weight-control behaviors variance. Indeed, participants who engaged in extreme weight-control behaviors experienced significantly more violence than the other participants did. In contrast, no differences were observed between people who engaged in extreme weight-control behaviors and those who did not due to conformity to sport ethic norms.

Highlights

The present study aims to investigate the role of sport ethic norms and weight-related maltreatment from coaches and parents in relation to extreme weight control behaviors (EWCB) among adolescent athletes
The findings indicate that EWCB are especially prevalent in weight-related organized sports settings, and highlights the links among conformity with sport ethic norms, the presence of weight-related maltreatment by coaches or parents, and the presence of EWCB in adolescents
Conformity to sport ethic norms is not significantly associated with the use of EWCB in adolescent athletes, even if those norms were slightly significantly correlated with EWCB, which was probably due to the large sample used

Summary

Methods

All procedures of this project were approved by the ethics committee of the institution where the study was conducted (approval number 2014-131 Phase III/26-10-2016). Data were collected through an online survey developed by Parent et al (2019), aiming to document the general experience of adolescent athletes. Participants completed an anonymous survey hosted by a secure website (Qualtrics). The athletes signed a consent form electronically before starting the survey. The completion time ranged from 30 to 45 min

Results

Discussion

Conclusion