Impact of Job Insecurity on Psychological Well- and Ill-Being among High Performance Coaches.

Marte Bentzen,Pierre-Nicolas Lemyre,Göran Kenttä,Anne Richter

doi:10.3390/ijerph17196939

Abstract

Background: The evaluative nature of high performance (HP) sport fosters performance expectations that can be associated with harsh scrutiny, criticism, and job insecurity. In this context, (HP) sport is described as a highly competitive, complex, and turbulent work environment. The aim of this longitudinal, quantitative study was to explore whether HP coaches’ perceptions of job insecurity and job value incongruence in relation to work would predict their psychological well- and ill-being over time. Methods: HP coaches (n = 299) responded to an electronic questionnaire at the start, middle, and end of a competitive season, designed to measure the following: job insecurity, values, psychological well-being (vitality and satisfaction with work), and psychological ill-being (exhaustion and cynicism). Structural equation model analyses were conducted using Mplus. Results: Experiencing higher levels of job insecurity during the middle of the season significantly predicted an increase in coaches’ psychological ill-being, and a decrease in their psychological well-being at the end of the season. However, value incongruence did not have a significant longitudinal impact. Conclusions: These findings cumulatively indicate that coaches’ perceptions of job insecurity matter to their psychological health at work. Consequently, it is recommended that coaches and organizations acknowledge and discuss how to handle job security within the HP sport context.

Highlights

IntroductionWill always be, an integral part of competitive sport. Importantly, coaching has the potential to be rewarding and not everyone that experiences demands and stressors will suffer [1]
Stress is, and will always be, an integral part of competitive sport
It has been suggested that being an High performance coaches (HPCs) is an all-consuming and demanding profession without clear boundaries, which can be detrimental to their mental health [4,5,6]

Summary

Introduction

Will always be, an integral part of competitive sport. Importantly, coaching has the potential to be rewarding and not everyone that experiences demands and stressors will suffer [1]. The high performance (HP) sport work environment is considered to be highly demanding, unpredictable, and insecure [2]. The increasingly competitive and evaluative nature of elite sport fosters performance expectations that are associated with harsh scrutiny, criticism, and job insecurity [7]. The evaluative nature of high performance (HP) sport fosters performance expectations that can be associated with harsh scrutiny, criticism, and job insecurity. (HP) sport is described as a highly competitive, complex, and turbulent work environment. The aim of this longitudinal, quantitative study was to explore whether HP coaches’ perceptions of job insecurity and job value incongruence in relation to work would predict their psychological welland ill-being over time.

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion