Psychosocial Health and Well-being in High-Level Athletes

Description

The psychological health of competitive athletes is of paramount importance to performance, retention, and well-being in sport, and national governing bodies are increasingly concerned with its promotion. Psychosocial Health and Well-being in High-Level Athletes offers students, researchers, and practicing sport psychologists an accessible and rigorous grounding in the manifestations of psychosocial health in athletes, the threats athletes face to their psychosocial health, and the interventions which can be designed to enhance it. Seeking to guide future research and expand professional understanding of psychosocial issues in sport, the book is based on a model of cognitive, emotional, social, and spiritual health. It clearly defines these dimensions in a sporting context before discussing pertinent threats―such as career transitions, injuries and abuse―and interventions, including adversarial growth, life-skill interventions, prevention and organization policy, and mindfulness-based interventions. Providing an innovative and integrated perspective on psychosocial health and well-being in competitive sport, this book is essential reading for upper-level students taking any clincial sport psychology modules, and for sport psychologists, coaches, and administrators working with competitive athletes. Cover Half Title Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Page Table of Contents List of illustrations Acknowledgments Part I Foundations of psychosocial health Chapter 1 The relevance of psychosocial health for high-level athletes The varied meanings of health Well-being Sport as an enhancer or debilitator of optimal psychosocial health and well-being References Chapter 2 Cognitive and emotional health Cognitive health Conclusion Emotional health Emotional intelligence Conclusion References Chapter 3 Social and spiritual health Social health Spiritual health References Part II Threats to psychosocial health Chapter 4 Organizational stress Psychological models of organizational stress Organizational stress in high-level sport Conclusion References Chapter 5 Performance pressure Winning: The common denominator in psychological pressure The context for psychological pressure in high-level sport Future research directions Conclusion References Chapter 6 Abuse Emotional abuse in sport Sexual abuse in sport Psychosocial health consequences of abuse in sport Future research directions Conclusion References Chapter 7 Injury Psychosocial antecedents of sport injury Andersen and Williams’ (1988) model of stress and athletic injury Psychosocial consequences of sport injury Spinal cord injuries and concussions Future research directions Conclusion References Chapter 8 Transitions Foundations of transition The sport retirement transition Within-career sport transitions Future research directions Conclusion References Part III Interventions and positive outcomes Chapter 9 Prevention The language and logic of prevention Health promotion/positive development and universal prevention for athletes Selective prevention for athletes Sport organization-developed prevention programming for athletes Future directions Conclusion References Chapter 10 Organizational practices and policy Policy as the cornerstone of comprehensive prevention practices The spectrum of prevention Conclusion References Chapter 11 Treatment Forms of psychosocial treatment for athletes Unique barriers to psychosocial treatment in high-level athletes The current state of psychosocial health treatment services for high-level athletes Conclusion References Chapter 12 Resilience and Adversarial Growth Resilience Adversarial growth Promoting resilience and growth in high-level athletes Conclusion References Index