A Longitudinal Examination of Stress and Mental Ill-/Well-Being in Elite Football Coaches

Abstract

A novel concurrent, independent mixed-methods research design was adopted to explore elite association football coaches’ stress and mental ill-/well-being experiences over the course of an entire season. Elite coaches (N = 18) completed measures of perceived stressor severity, coping effectiveness, and mental ill-/well-being, with a sample (n = 8) also participating in semistructured interviews, across four time points. Linear mixed-model and retroductive analyses revealed (a) lower mental well-being at the beginning of the season due to negative appraisals/responses to stressors and ineffective coping attempts, (b) higher emotional exhaustion and depersonalization at the end of the season, (c) stressors high in severity led to decreased mental well-being (unless coaches coped effectively) and increased symptoms associated with burnout, and (d) ineffective coping attempts led to increased emotional exhaustion. These findings offer novel insight into the specific components of elite football coaches’ stress experiences influencing their mental ill-/well-being over time.

The Mental Health of Elite-Level Coaches: A Systematic Scoping Review

“…These demands were predominantly met with ineffective coping strategies, which subsequently led to negative states of wellbeing. Conversely, when effective coping strategies were employed, coaches usually experienced high levels of wellbeing Baldock et al [ 83 ] Mixed-Methods, Longitudinal; 80% 18 (18:0) Burnout, Wellbeing Soccer; United Kingdom National, Professional Using four time points across a competitive season, coaches reported moderate levels of wellbeing and low to medium levels of burnout. Wellbeing was at its lowest at the beginning of the season, whilst emotional exhaustion and depersonalisation were highest at the end of the season Balk et al [ 90 ] Quantitative, Longitudinal; 60% 31 (30:1) Wellbeing Various; Australia and The Netherlands International, National Emotional detachment (the previous day), sleep quality and sleep duration contributed towards a coach’s experience of positive affect the following morning.…”

“…Thirty-two (76.2%) of the included studies examined themes associated with mental ill-health. Studies that satisfied the inclusion criteria explored symptoms associated with burnout ( n = 21, 50%) [ 45 , 78 – 80 , 83 , 87 – 89 , 93 , 96 – 107 ], anxiety ( n = 10, 23.8%) [ 11 , 12 , 78 – 80 , 82 , 91 , 103 , 108 , 109 ], depression ( n = 8, 19%) [ 11 , 12 , 78 – 80 , 108 , 110 , 111 ], psychological distress ( n = 5, 11.9%) [ 11 , 12 , 78 – 80 ], risky alcohol consumption/disorders ( n = 4, 9.5%) [ 11 , 12 , 108 , 110 ], sleep disturbance/disorders ( n = 3, 7.1%) [ 11 , 12 , 82 ], eating disorders ( n = 2, 4.8%) [ 81 , 108 ], substance abuse ( n = 1, 2.4%) [ 108 ] and gambling disorders ( n = 1, 2.4%) [ 112 ]. Nine studies (21.4%) [ 11 , 12 , 81 , 93 , 96 , 99 , 111 – 113 ] also examined the prevalence of mental ill-health amongst general elite-level coaching populations, and one study (2.4%) [ 108 ] explored the prevalence of psychiatric disorders in a treatment-seeking population.…”

“…The results ranged from low [ 83 , 93 , 96 , 104 – 106 ], to moderate [ 83 , 99 , 101 , 105 ], to high [ 99 ] levels of emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation and personal accomplishment. These findings were predominantly measured using a version of the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), including a non-specified version ( n = 9) [ 78 – 80 , 89 , 101 , 102 , 104 – 106 ], the MBI-General Scale (MBI-GS) ( n = 4) [ 87 , 88 , 93 , 96 ], MBI-Educators Survey (MBI-ES) ( n = 2) [ 98 , 99 ] and MBI-Coach (MBI-C) survey ( n = 1) [ 83 ]. Other measurement tools included the Coach Burnout Questionnaire (CBQ) ( n = 1) [ 103 ] and Coach Burnout Affect Survey ( n = 1) [ 107 ].…”

“…Other measurement tools included the Coach Burnout Questionnaire (CBQ) ( n = 1) [ 103 ] and Coach Burnout Affect Survey ( n = 1) [ 107 ]. In addition to quantitative measures, 5 studies also utilised semi-structured interviews to explore burnout [ 45 , 83 , 97 , 98 , 100 ].…”

Positive mental health among sports coaches: A 6-month longitudinal study.

“…On the other hand, longer intervals could capture changes in PMH associated with exposure to a given task and social environment over a longer period (Sonnentag, 2015). In their longitudinal study, Baldock et al (2022) reported lower levels of wellbeing at the beginning of the season due to negative appraisal of stressors and ineffective coping. On the other hand, Bentzen et al (2016) observed a decline in well-being as the season progressed.…”