Open this publication in new window or tab >>2017 (English)In: European Journal for Sport and Society, ISSN 1613-8171, Vol. 14, no 2, p. 117-137Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
Sexual harassment and abuse (SHA) can have a profound negative impact, but research on SHA in sport is scarce and studies of SHA in Swedish sport are absent. This study explores (a) self-reported prevalence of SHA perpetrated by coaches among male and female Swedish athletes, and (b) descriptive statistics for coach-athlete relationship factors and the association between these relationship factors and reported SHA. Current and former Swedish club sport athletes (n = 477) aged 25 participated in the survey. Athletes reported 5.5% prevalence of coach SHA, of which inappropriate, unpleasant, or offensive physical contact were most common. No significant differences of SHA frequency were displayed across gender, sport performance levels, or individual/team sports. A majority of athletes (55-95%) reported trust, closeness, substantial coach influence over sport performance, and instructional physical contact as main coach-athlete relationship factors. A minority (13-39%) reported dependency, substantial coach influence over personal-life, non-instructional physical contact, sexualized comments and jokes, and flirting. Prevalence of coach-athlete friendships, athlete attraction to coaches, and coaches' instructional physical contact differed significantly between male and female athletes. Closeness and athlete attraction to coaches were negatively related, and coaches' non-instructional physical contact and flirting were positively related to reported SHA. Multi-causality and ambiguity of coach-athlete relationship factors are discussed.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Taylor & Francis, 2017
National Category
Sport and Fitness Sciences
Research subject
Sports Science
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:kau:diva-69129 (URN)10.1080/16138171.2017.1318106 (DOI)000442107500003 ()
2018-09-072018-09-072025-02-11Bibliographically approved