European Journal of Sport Science, July 2008; 8(4): 173181

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Defining and categorizing emotional abuse in sport

ASHLEY E. STIRLING & GRETCHEN A. KERR

Faculty of Physical Education and Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Abstract In this study, we used a qualitative research design to explore athletes experiences of emotional abuse in sport. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 14 retired, elite female swimmers, and data were analysed inductively using open, axial, and selective coding procedures. Findings revealed that emotionally abusive behaviours of the coach occurred in three ways: through physical behaviours, verbal behaviours, and the denial of attention and support. Based on our findings, a definition of emotional abuse in sport is proposed. This definition of emotional abuse is the first definition derived from the experiences of emotional abuse within an athletic environment. It encapsulates previous definitions of emotional abuse, types of emotionally abusive behaviours, and outcomes of these behaviours. The need for an athlete protection initiative in sport is discussed and recommendations are made for future research.

Keywords: Emotional abuse, athlete protection, coachathlete relationship

Introduction With athletes today often being pushed to physiological and psychological extremes in pursuit of sporting excellence (Tofler, Stryer, Micheli, & Herman, 1996), the line between training and abuse can become blurred. Recently, there has been a growing understanding of the occurrence of sexual abuse of young athletes in sport (Brackenridge, 2002), but very little research has attempted to explore other forms of abuse, such as emotional abuse, within this environment. Previous research has suggested that some standard coaching practices in competitive sport can be a threat to an athletes physical and psychological well-being. These coaching behaviours are seldom challenged and are an important area of inquiry (Gervis & Dunn, 2004). The purpose of this study, therefore, was to investigate elite athletes experiences of emotional abuse in sport environments.

Emotional abuse defined Emotional abuse is understood to be an underrecognized but extremely common form of child abuse (Glaser, 2002). Of the four main relational

abuses (sexual abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse, and neglect), emotional abuse has received the least amount of clinical and research attention, presumably due to the cultural acceptance of psychological aggression, the frequent lack of malicious intent by the perpetrator, and the perceived lack of urgency with respect to intervention (Brassard & Donovan, 2006). In addition, identification of emotional abuse has been limited, arguably due to limitations with definition, hence impeding research on the identification, prevention, and intervention of emotionally abusive behaviours (Iwaniec, 2003). Researchers over the years have argued whether the behaviour of the caregiver or the syndrome of the abuse should constitute the primary indicator for emotional abuse (Iwaniec, 2003). In spite of this controversy, several definitions have been proposed. Glaser (2002) defined emotional abuse as a relationship between a child and caregiver that is characterized by patterns of non-physical harmful interactions. Similarly, OHagan (1995) maintained that emotional abuse refers to The sustained, repetitive, inappropriate emotional response to the childs experience of emotion and its accompanying expressive behaviour (p. 456). Paavilainen and

Correspondence: A. E. Stirling, Faculty of Physical Education and Health, University of Toronto, 55 Harbord Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 2W6, Canada. E-mail: ashley.stirling@utoronto.ca ISSN 1746-1391 print/ISSN 1536-7290 online # 2008 European College of Sport Science DOI: 10.1080/17461390802086281

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A. E. Stirling & G. A. Kerr womens competitive gymnastics, contended that, In general, they [elite gymnasts] are in awe of their coaches and other adult authorities who hold the key to their potential success; consequently, they are at risk for abuse (p. 282). Moreover, the coachathlete relationship has been shown to be an unbalanced one, with the coach having power over the athlete by virtue of his or her age, expertise, experience, and access to resources and rewards (Thomlinson & Strachan, 1996). As the realm of influence a coach has over an athlete becomes more significant, the potential for abuse in this relationship increases. Similarly, Crosset (1986) referred to the coach athlete relationship as being similar to that of a masterslave relationship. In his view, an abusive relationship can result from the lack of independence of the athlete, and the high level of control and dominance the coach has over the athlete in this relationship. Overall though, there is a conspicuous absence of literature on emotional abuse in this environment. Further investigation of athletes experiences of emotional abuse in sport is required to inform athlete protection initiatives in sport organizations. The specific objective of this study, therefore, was to investigate elite athletes experiences of emotional abuse in sport environments.

Tarkka (2003) further stated that a child who is forced to assume adult roles and is burdened with adult responsibility too early in life, also suffers from a form of emotional abuse. Moreover, Iwaniec and colleagues (Iwaniec, Larkin, & Higgins, 2006) stated: Instances whereby adults hold excessive power over children and fail to take childrens rights into consideration in a meaningful way are widespread in our society and this has to be regarded as constituting emotional abuse (p. 74). As well, Iwaniec (2003) contended that emotional damage can be caused by verbal hostility, denigration, unrealistic expectations, induced fear and anxiety due to threats of abandonment, rejection, all-round deprivation of attention, and by having excessive power over the child. Psychological maltreatment, which has been described as comprising both emotional abuse and emotional neglect, has been described by the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children (APSAC, 1995) as A repeated pattern of caregiver behaviour or extreme incident(s) that convey to children that they are worthless, flawed, unloved, unwanted, endangered, or of value only in meeting anothers needs. The Society also described six main forms of psychological maltreatment, including: spurning, terrorizing, isolating, exploiting/ corrupting, denying emotional responsiveness, and mental, health, medical, and educational neglect. Considering the lack of consistency in definitions of emotional abuse, let alone the absence of a specific definition for emotional abuse in sport, it is not surprising that research on emotional abuse in the athletic environment has been limited. Emotional abuse in sport To date, very few studies have looked at emotional abuse in sport. Gervis and Dunn (2004) conducted a study on the prevalence of emotional abuse of elite athletes and concluded that commonly accepted coaching methodologies that are centred on a win at all costs approach are problematic and create a position of vulnerability for the athletes. So much emphasis can be placed on winning performances in sport that little attention is given to the methods involved in achieving them (Gervis & Dunn, 2004). Furthermore, Gervis and Dunn (2004) found that the behaviour of some coaches is a threat to the psychological well-being of elite child athletes (p. 215) and stated that shouting, belittling, threats, and humiliation were the most common forms of emotional abuse experienced in sport, with more reported abusive behaviours occurring once the athletes reached the elite level. Similarly, Tofler and colleagues (1996), in their study of the physiological and psychological problems associated with

Methods Participants The participants were 14 elite, retired female swimmers aged 1929 years (mean 022.9 years). All participants had competed in Canada, at the national or international level, and had been retired between 36 years. A wide variety of clubs, including both small and large teams, were represented. No more than two participants trained or competed for any single club, and between the participants, 13 different club teams and three different university teams were represented. On average, participants recalled having approximately five coaches throughout their career with a mix of male and female coaches represented. Procedures After receiving approval for the study from the Universitys Human Ethics Review Board, participants were recruited using a snowball sampling technique. Initial participants were recruited by contacting local swim teams and obtaining email addresses of the teams retired athletes. Recruitment occurred through the referrals of one participant of another. Each retired swimmer was informed of the purpose of the study, namely to explore athletes experiences of emotional abuse, before interviewing

Emotional abuse in sport commenced. Semi-structured interviews were then conducted with each individual. Each interview began with the general question, Please tell me about your experiences as an elite athlete. Other probes included Describe your relationship with your coach throughout your sport career and Did you ever experience any behaviours in the coach athlete relationship that you would describe as problematic? With the participants consent, each interview was tape-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Interviews were then coded and analysed inductively using open, axial, and selective coding procedures (Strauss & Corbin, 1998). Concepts along with their properties and dimensions were coded and grouped into higher-level categories. Consistent with a constant comparative approach, coded categories were then compared with previously defined categories, which allowed for the confirmation and refinement of emerging concepts. As the analysis progressed, the categories evolved and relationships were determined between categories and their respective subcategories, and integrated until theoretical saturation occurred (Strauss & Corbin, 1998). Results To reiterate, in-depth interviews were conducted with 14 retired, elite female swimmers. The data revealed that, in sport, emotionally abusive behaviours of the coach occurred in three ways: through physical behaviours, verbal behaviours, and the denial of attention and support. Each of these emotionally abusive behaviours is described below. Although we did not look at the prevalence or frequency of the various emotionally abusive behaviours, 13 of 14 participants experienced some form of emotional abuse from their coach, and several of the participants reported that the frequency of emotionally abusive behaviours increased as they advanced through the sporting ranks. Pseudonyms are used in the reporting of the results. Physical behaviours As expressed in the interviews, physically emotionally abusive behaviours included acts of aggression such as hitting and throwing objects either at the athlete or in the presence of the athlete. Participants reported that objects were recurrently thrown by the coach following an athletes inadequate performance. Items thrown by the coach in anger included kickboards (swimming equipment), beverages, flag poles, chairs, pool toys, markers, pylons, blocks, erasers, and water bottles. Brittany recalled, He [the coach] could be violent. I remember he would throw boards at your head if you werent making the

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pace time. He threw pylons at you. Hed scream. One practice he had a heart attack because he was so upset. Julia reminisced about her coachs physical behaviours and explained, My coach had a very bad temper . . . One time he got really mad at me and he came at me. I thought he was going to throw me across the pool. He got in my face and he had this vein in his head that was popping out. He had his hands as if he was going to grab me by the throat, and he was screaming at me. And then I remember he picked up my water bottle and smashed it [against the wall]. Julia recalled other incidents of physical aggression experienced by her coach and stated, I remember him [coach] throwing stuff at me. Not in a like oh I need your attention way, but like Im gonna kill you mad. She continued, I remember my coach was really mad at me . . . and he took the block and Ive never seen anyone use this much force. He threw it against the wall and it ricocheted off the wall and slid across the pool deck into the pool. Cheyenne also explained, I remember my coach throwing a chair at me in the water because I was breathing wrong in butterfly. Participants described coaches punching walls and breaking kickboards when frustrated with an athletes inadequate performance. Andrea recalled, I remember one time he [coach] threw a kickboard against the wall because he was really mad and it broke in half. Similarly, Caitlyn stated, He would throw kickboards, and he punched the window of the lifeguard office at one point. He threw coke cans. He would just take out the flag pole and throw it in the water, and he would kick us out of [expel us from] practice. He was very volatile.

Verbal behaviours The second category of verbal behaviours consisted of yelling and shouting at an athlete or group of athletes, belittling, name-calling, degrading comments, and humiliation. It was not infrequent for a coach to yell and scream at the athlete during training sessions. Brittany stated, He [coach] was very abusive verbally, like screaming and throwing stuff and really arrogant. Andrea also described her coach as verbally abusive: He [coach] had a really bad temper, and when he got mad he just exploded. Similarly, Lindsay stated, I got disqualified once when I was 10 years old and my coach just reamed me out in front of the entire team on the bleachers. When asked why her coach yelled at her, Lindsay further explained:

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A. E. Stirling & G. A. Kerr because my friend left the club and I was still friends with her. Similarly, Leah recalled that if she didnt do what her coach wanted, then she would get upset at her and ignore her. Julia reported: I remember one time at Canada Games trials because of my performance. I had a really bad swim . . . And I remember my coach wouldnt even look at me when I came back. I took my time coming back to him and he wouldnt even look at me, and then he said Get out of my program. I dont even want you in my club anymore. Get away from me. Find another ride home. You are not even worth my breath right now. Another form of denying attention and support that was experienced by the athletes was the act of being expelled or excluded from practice. Participants explained that the coach would often kick them out of practice if they were not doing a set properly. Cheyenne recalled, There was a time when I got kicked out of practice at least once a month, probably more. Similarly, Julia said, He [coach] would kick me out of workouts for no reason at all . . . I got kicked out of the weight room for three months because there was a misunderstanding about what the reps were supposed to be for a set. Lindsay also stated, If you werent on deck 15 minutes early or if he [coach] had already started explaining the practice and you hadnt shown up yet, you were not allowed to swim. You had to sit on the pool deck and watch. In this circumstance, being on deck 15 minutes early was not a rule of training known to the swimmer, thus highlighting the unreasonableness of the coachs behaviour. Athletes responses to emotionally abusive behaviours After talking about the emotionally abusive actions experienced from the coach, participants were asked specifically how each action made them feel. Responses to this question indicated that the athletes reactions differed between the three types of emotional abuse. Participants reported that the denial of attention and support had the most negative effect, followed by the experience of verbal emotionally abusive behaviours. Interestingly, the physical behaviours used had the least negative effect. The participants revealed that they were extremely upset as a result of the denial of attention and support. Caitlyn described her response to being ignored by her coach as follows: I was really upset. It wasnt fair. I didnt really do anything. Rebecca recalled being quite upset when her coach would ignore her if she wasnt swimming well: It [being ignored] made you feel worse because it made you feel like youre not good enough [to deserve the

They [coaches] think because they have authority and because kids will listen that they have the right to talk down to them or treat them badly. They dont know how to control their frustrations or their anger and they take it out on you. And they think that being a hard ass is using reverse psychology, but thats just their excuse for covering themselves. Really they have done nothing but traumatize people. Lauren stated, They [coaches] would yell and shout all the time. Similarly, Julia recalled, They [the coaches] would get so mad if people werent working hard enough or if people werent pulling out the times they expected . . . They would scream and swear at you and just say really rude things. Referring to her coachs verbal actions, Danielle disclosed, I dont know how to explain this, but he [the coach] made you feel small. He was really belittling. Lindsay also recalled, My coach was treating me worse than garbage . . . He was making me feel belittled, like a tiny little person. Demeaning comments on the part of the coach were also experienced by the athletes. For example, Brittany said, My coach used to make me feel bad by saying The younger kids are faster than you. Youre brutal. These kids are faster than you . . . He was so nasty. He was so mean. Similarly, Rebecca explained, At races and stuff he [coach] would do a lot of comparing between people just to knock you down . . . Hes just very degrading. He doesnt treat you like a human being. Furthermore, Lindsay said her coach used to call her worthless and disgusting, and Kimberly recalled that her coach used to make demeaning comments to her when she wasnt swimming well. Other degrading comments included comments about weight. Participants recalled how their coaches would make inappropriate comments about weight and physical appearance. Rebecca and Rachel said that their coaches used to tell people to lose weight and tell them they were fat. Julia also stated, He [coach] would stand there and scream at you and call you fat. Denial of attention and support The third category included the intentional denial of attention and support that would be expected from a coach. The participants experiences of being ignored by their coach were reflected in the following statements. My coach was mad at me for a week and wouldnt speak to me at practice (Caitlyn). She [coach] treated me like absolute crap and acted as if I didnt exist (Rebecca). Lauren also reminisced about her coachs denial of attention: He [coach] stopped talking to me. He wouldnt make eye contact with me or talk to me during workout

Emotional abuse in sport coachs attention]. Then you would go into this slump and it was this endless kind of thing. Leah said that after being ignored by her coach, she would go home crying, would feel extremely guilty, and would be upset that she displeased her coach. Similarly, after Andreas coach did not talk to her after a race she recalled, I remember being so upset. Lauren reflected on her response to being avoided by her coach: I was pretty upset about it, and I was ticked off [angry]. Kimberly stated, That [denial of attention] is actually probably one of the worst things . . . They [coaches] definitely made you feel like you are not part of the group and no-one wants to be there for that . . . That [ignoring athletes] was a definite tactic some coaches used to get you to want to belong, and if you wanted their attention then you have to conform to the ideal swimmer they want. Similarly, Julia explained, It [being ignored] makes you feel like what am I doing here? Why am I getting up at 10 after 4 in the morning? . . . It doesnt make you feel good. Furthermore, comparing the experience of being ignored to other emotionally abusive behaviours experienced in the coachathlete relationship, Cheyenne said, I remember thinking as much as I hated being picked on . . . It was worse to be ignored. In response to verbal behaviours, participants reported that although their affective responses to these behaviours may not have been as negative as they were to the denial of attention and support, the experience of these behaviours was still quite upsetting. Kimberly explained, I do think that sometimes you lose a little bit of self-worth because of what your coaches are telling you. If you are always being put down, or if your coaches are always yelling at you, or if youre being ignored . . . You do sort of take it personally. And you start to think Maybe he was right. Maybe I wasnt good enough. Maybe thats why Im not succeeding now in this part of life. Cheyenne also discussed the internalization of the coachs comments: If he [coach] said something negative then its personal. Its a personal attack on me and he must not like me. Additionally, Lindsay said that her coachs degrading comments really bothered her and that belittling comments from her coach made her feel insignificant and inferior. She further stated, Nobody likes being yelled at, or told off, or treated like theyre nothing . . . Nobody wants to be talked to like theyre a fool. Compared with the experience of belittling, namecalling, degrading comments, and humiliation,

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participants stated that they were not as upset when the coach yelled and screamed at them. Kimberly said, Obviously sometimes you were very bothered, but I was usually able to just shake it off. Rachel also stated, Being yelled at, to me is not a big deal. Id rather be yelled at by a coach and sort of put in my place by a coach; because to me it shows he cares and wants the best possible results out of me . . . I took it [being yelled at] with a grain of salt. The athletes were relatively unaffected by their coaches physical manifestations of anger except when they were actually hit by a thrown object. The participants revealed that when coaches hit and threw objects, they experienced fear, and often used humour to rationalize and cope with this fear. Referring to an incident when her coach threw pull buoys at her (swimming equipment), Rebecca described responding with a, oh thats coach, whatever type of attitude. Andrea reported that when her coach threw objects at practice it was kind of scary, but then she said she would go home and laugh about it. Similarly, Julia talked about her emotional response when her coach threw things: Sometimes I would laugh because I would be like, wow this guy is crazy. But other times Id be scared because you dont know what he is physically capable of doing . . . So sometimes it would invoke fear, but mostly I would just be like this guy is psycho. In summary, coaches were emotionally abusive through physical and verbal means and through the denial of attention and support. The athletes responses to these behaviours indicated that the denial of attention and support produced the most negative response, followed by verbal behaviours and physical demonstrations of anger. Discussion The purpose of this study was to investigate elite athletes experiences of emotional abuse in athletic environments. Results confirmed the findings of previous research that emotional abuse occurs in the elite sport domain (Gervis & Dunn, 2004; Tofler et al., 1996). A strong criticism of the work conducted to date on emotional abuse, both generally and in sport specifically, is the lack of a standardized definition and classification structure for emotional abuse. As mentioned previously, definitions differ depending on whether the occurrence of maltreatment is defined by the behaviour itself (Paavilainen &

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A. E. Stirling & G. A. Kerr sard, 2001), for a particular behaviour to be classified as emotional abuse, it must be deliberate in nature. In the present study, some athletes suggested that emotionally abusive behaviours were used by their coaches as a means of punishment for inadequate performances or training behaviour. In other instances. the emotional abuse was described by the athletes as a method used by the coach to establish, maintain, and/or strengthen his or her dominance and control over the athlete. With this power relationship established, the coach is in a better position to push the athlete, physically and psychologically, to enhance performance in sport. Regardless of the desired outcome of the behaviour, the emotional abuse experienced by the athletes in this study was described as having been exerted intentionally by the coach. This defining criterion is contrary to purely outcome-based definitions of physical and sexual abuse. Finally, the intent of a perpetrator to inflict harm has been discussed as a criterion to assess the severity of the emotional abuse (Hamarman & Bernet, 2000). Although the commission of an act must be deliberate, the intent to inflict harm is not required for a coachs behaviour to be classified as emotional abuse. As described above, many athletes suggested that emotional abuse was inflicted by their coaches in the name of performance and winning, outcomes that benefit both the coach and the athlete, and are highly valued in sport. Although these behaviours were not intended to bring harm to the athlete, the long-term detrimental effects of the abuse were still endured. Previous research has suggested that while many coaches may believe that they are working in the best interests of the athlete, pressures on the coach to succeed may lead to decisions that go against the athletes well-being (Donnelly, 1997). Therefore, based upon the findings of the current study, the following definition of emotional abuse is proposed: A pattern of deliberate non-contact behaviours by a person within a critical relationship role that has the potential to be harmful. Acts of emotional abuse include physical behaviours, verbal behaviours, and acts of denying attention and support. These acts have the potential to be spurning, terrorizing, isolating, exploiting/corrupting, or deny emotional responsiveness, and may be harmful to an individuals affective, behavioural, cognitive or physical wellbeing. This definition of emotional abuse is the first definition derived from the experiences of emotional abuse within an athletic environment. It combines previous definitions of emotional abuse, and attempts to include both the syndrome of the abuse as well criteria for identifying emotionally abusive behaviour. The findings of this study advance the literature on emotional abuse by categorizing various types of

Tarkka, 2003) or the outcome of a particular behaviour (Iwaniec, 2003). This discontinuity may be accounted for by examining the purpose for which the definition or classification was designed that is, federal, legal, case work, research, and so on (Porter, Antonishak, & Reppucci, 2006). For clinical purposes, while emotional abuse may be best defined based on the degree and/or type of harm experienced, from an applied research and intervention perspective these definitions are not sufficient. Rather, to advance the identification and prevention of emotional abuse in sport, a definition of what constitutes emotional abuse must include criteria of the behaviour perpetrated. Results of this study support the current definitions of emotional abuse in the sense the athletes emotionally abusive experiences were characterized by sustained and repeated patterns (OHagan, 1995; Paavilainen & Tarkka, 2003) of contact-free harmful interactions between an athlete and caregiver (coach) (Glaser, 2002) that resulted in emotional upset of the athlete (APSAC, 1995). However, for prevention purposes, focusing specifically on defining what constitutes an emotionally abusive behaviour in sport irrespective of affective response, we propose that other variables need to be addressed. These variables include the nature of the relationship in which the abuse occurs, the omission or commission of the behaviour, and the intent of the perpetrator to induce harm. More specifically, to differentiate emotional abuse from emotional bullying in sport, it is important to add that emotional abuse is a relational disorder, meaning that it must occur within the context of a critical relationship role, in which the relationship has significant influence over the individuals sense of safety, trust, and fulfillment of needs (Crooks & Wolfe, 2007, p. 17). The criterion of critical relationship role does not include an age restriction. Many of the athletes in this study experienced abuse both as a child and as an adult, thus demonstrating that the experience of emotional abuse is not limited solely to children. Further supporting this criterion, this study highlighted the significance of the coach athlete relationship, and the influence of the coaches comments and actions on the well-being of the athletes. However, due to differences in the potential effect of a particular behaviour, the same behaviours experienced by an athlete from two separate coaches may or may not be equally abusive if the contexts of the relationships differ. Important to the distinction of the concept of emotional abuse from emotional neglect is the intent of the perpetrator to exert the behaviour. While psychological maltreatment includes both acts of omission and commission, which may be equally psychologically damaging (Binggeli, Hart, & Bras-

Emotional abuse in sport emotionally abusive behaviours in sport. Findings revealed three ways in which emotional abuse is experienced by athletes: a physical form, a verbal form, and the denial of attention and support. In their study of parental emotional abuse of children, Glaser and Prior (1997) identify the most prominent forms as: developmentally inappropriate interactions with the child, denigration or rejection, and emotional unavailability or neglect. Christensen (1999) also differentiated between types of emotional abuse, defining active emotional abuse as consistently being exposed to verbal insults, threats, and rejections, and passive emotional abuse as being subjected to understimulation or a lack of security care. Neither Glaser and Priors (1997) nor Christensens (1999) categorization of types of emotional abuse, however, considers other aggressive behaviours such as throwing objects without hitting the athlete, and expelling or excluding the athlete from practice. Interestingly, the findings of the current study are similar in some ways to the literature on bullying. The key elements of bullying among school children include: physical, verbal, or psychological attack or intimidation that is intended to cause fear, distress, or harm to the victim; an imbalance of power, with the more powerful child oppressing the less powerful one; absence of provocation by the victim; and repeated incidents between the same children over a prolonged period of time (Ferrington, 1993, p. 384). The social isolation and exclusion often used by girls to bully is similar to the denial of attention and support found in this study. Abuse in the coachathlete relationship, however, is unique given the critical nature of the relationship between the coach and the athlete. Looking at the types of emotional abuse experienced, it is interesting that the participants seem to have been affected more negatively by the denial of attention and support than by the physical and verbal forms. Even though the participants had been retired from sport for several years, many of them were drawn to tears by their recollections of their coaches verbal criticisms, and especially by memories of being ignored. One potential explanation for the differences in response to the three types of emotional abuse is the extent to which each of the behaviours threatens the athletes self-esteem and her relationship with her coach. The use of physical behaviours can be intimidating but they do not compromise an athletes self-esteem to the same degree as verbal behaviours and the denial of attention and support. Also, despite the aggressive nature of the coachathlete relationship that occurs with the assertion of physical behaviours, the relationship is still intact, and the coach and the athlete are still interacting with one another. Verbal behaviours including belittlement and degrading com-

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ments can be internalized by the athlete and have a damaging effect on the athletes self-esteem and athletic identity. However, like physical behaviours, the coach is still providing the athlete with some form of attention, although not necessarily positive, thus preserving the coachathlete relationship. The denial of attention and support is the most threatening as it compromises both the athletes relationship with her coach and her sense of identity that is immersed in this domain. According to the athletes, denying attention and support is used by the coach as a form of punishment that compromises the closeness of the coachathlete relationship and tells the athlete that she is not worthy of attention. This has the result of degrading the athletes sense of selfworth and reducing her ability to cope with the emotional abuse. The general literature on child abuse also supports the finding that some attention, even if it is negative, has less effect on the child than no attention at all (Herrenkohl, Herrenkohl, Egolf, & Wu, 1991). Future directions Interestingly, both male and female coaches of the athletes used emotionally abusive behaviours. As no previous studies have examined the influence of the coachs sex on athletes experiences of emotional abuse, this would be a fruitful line of research. Future questions of interest include: Does the frequency or forms of emotional abuse differ between male and female coaches? Do athletes who train with male versus female coaches differ in their experiences of emotional abuse? As the current study looked solely at female athletes experiences of emotional abuse, an investigation of male athletes experiences and potential gender differences in the experience of emotionally abusive behaviours is warranted. Moreover, it would be interesting to explore the process by which individuals may experience emotional abuse in sport over time, and in other sport relationships such as athleteathlete and parentathlete relations. The importance of context is also highlighted by the findings of this study. The coaches behaved in ways that would not be allowed in other instructional settings teachers, for example, would incur serious consequences for name-calling and throwing objects at students. The contextual factors that contribute to the occurrence of emotional abuse in sport require further investigation. Furthermore, although the present study is limited by the small number of participants, their experiences are unlikely to be atypical. Future research is required on the incidence and prevalence of emotional abuse and the various types of emotionally abusive behaviours in sport. Additionally, it is the

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A. E. Stirling & G. A. Kerr to prevent the occurrence of emotional abuse in the athletic environment, we need to look more closely at the root cause of these problematic coaching behaviours. Suggestions posed by the athletes in this study include the application of emotionally abusive behaviours for punitive purposes, and as a means to establish, maintain, and/or strengthen a coachs dominance and control so that the coach may push an athlete to perform successfully in sport. While these underlying causes do not account for the complexities of understanding emotional abuse, they point to the importance of educating coaches about non-abusive approaches to developing and disciplining athletes. Ultimately, until less abusive approaches to athlete development are established in sport, the well-being of participants in this environment is inevitably at risk.

authors assumption that positive non-abusive coaching practices do exist in sport. Thus, as it was suggested that emotionally abusive behaviours are often used as a means to produce successful sport performance, research demonstrating the success of alternative non-abusive coaching methods is warranted. In addition to future research, findings from this study indicate a significant need for an athlete protection initiative in sport. This study has proposed an operational definition for emotional abuse in sport and identified types of emotionally abusive behaviours in this domain. The next step is to adopt these definitions of abuse in athlete protection policies along with punitive measure and steps for prevention and intervention. Policy initiatives that protect athletes from emotional abuse in sport need to be set in place along with strict guidelines for monitoring coach behaviours. Education of parents and athletes on the rights of the athlete is imperative. Furthermore, sport organizations need to outline what constitutes appropriate and inappropriate coaching methods, and have in place clear measures for the reporting, monitoring, and intervention of problematic behaviours. Turner and McCrory (2004, p. 107) agree: All sport authorities need to be aware of such problems [issues of abuse] and have in place guidelines to ensure that such problems are minimized. Such policies need to be comprehensive and cover aspects such as codes of conduct for those working with children, club policy statements, child protection awareness training, guidelines on selection and recruitment of club coaches and officials, and suggested self-declaration forms for people applying for such positions. Monitoring procedures need to be established to ensure adherence to policy initiatives. Ideally, sport organizations would provide avenues for athletes to report abuse and coaches would be monitored with regular randomized investigations of athletes physical and psychological health and development. Athletic training establishments should also be responsible for problematic conduct that occurs within their facilities, in part by increasing visual monitoring of coaches behaviours. Nevertheless, even with monitoring of the coaches behaviours in sport, it is possible that more covert forms of abuse such as the denial of attention and support will go undetected. The finding that the denial of attention and support can have the most detrimental effect on the athlete suggests that methods for intervention need to extend beyond monitoring and policy initiatives aimed at reducing the occurrence of emotional abuse in sport. Instead,

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