This qualitative study of lesbian and gay elders seeks to identify the psychosocial challenges this community faces regarding long-term care. Two focus groups were conducted among 16 gay elders in community and long-term care settings. Participants reported fear of being rejected or neglected by healthcare providers, particularly personal care aides; fear of not being accepted and respected by other residents; fear of having to go back into the closet if placed in long-term care; and a preference for gay-friendly care. Participants suggested staff training to promote acceptance and respect for gay people, and favorably perceived gay-specific and gay-friendly living arrangements.
This study examined the sources of stress in elite figure skaters. Twenty-six former national-championship competitors were interviewed to identify their stressors during the most competitive phase of their athletic careers. The interviews consisted of open-ended and follow-up questions that provided an in-depth understanding of the athletes' sources of stress. Inductive content-analysis procedures established stress categories derived from the athletes' perspective. Five major sources of stress emerged from the data—negative aspects of competition, negative significant-other relationships, demands or costs of skating, personal straggles, and traumatic experiences. The results demonstrate that (a) elite athletes experience stress from both competition and noncompetition sources, (b) individual differences exist among elite athletes' sources of stress, and (c) elite and youth sport athletes have similar competition-related stressors.
This study investigated the sources of sport enjoyment for elite figure skaters. These elite athletes were 26 former national championship competitors who currently coach figure skating. The skaters were interviewed and answered an open-ended question asking them for their sources of enjoyment during the most competitive phase of their skating careers. Each source of enjoyment mentioned was probed to obtain an in-depth understanding of the source. The data, 418 quotes, were drawn from verbatim transcriptions of the interviews and were inductively content analyzed. Content analysis organizes the quotes into increasingly more complex themes and categories representing sources of enjoyment. Four major sources of enjoyment emerged from the data—social and life opportunities, perceived competence, social recognition of competence, and the act of skating. The findings (a) demonstrated that elite figure skaters derive enjoyment from numerous and diverse sources reflecting the achievement, social, and movement aspects of sport, (b) provided greater depth of understanding for new and previously indicated sources of enjoyment, and (c) uncovered new psychological constructs.
Sport enjoyment, dropout, and burnout emerged as important areas of research in the 1980s. Smith (1986) and Gould (1987; Gould & Petlichkoff, 1988) have proposed models to account for these phenomena, and both models include elements fromThibaut and Kelley's (1959) social exchange theory. The present paper argues that previous models overlooked an important aspect of social exchange theory and may not be able to adequately account for continued involvement, dropout, and burnout. Kelley's (1983) conception of commitment is offered as an extension of previous models. Recent research examining commitment in close relationships is highlighted, and its relevance to sport is discussed. The proposed model of commitment to sport is able to distinguish between athletes who continue their participation, those who drop out, and those who burn out.
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