“Women easily feel that they have lost a year if they don’t ski faster”: Finnish ski coaches’ discursive constructions of gendered dual career pathways

Mental health in student-athletes in Norwegian lower secondary sport schools

“…Female student-athletes were more likely to demonstrate symptoms of psychological distress, similar to the general Norwegian youth population. One plausible explanation relevant to the sport school context is that female student-athletes experience more pressure to perform well in sports, school and social relations, making them more vulnerable to mental health problems 20 21. Notably, we found that student-athletes competing in individual sports in lower secondary schools were more likely to demonstrate symptoms of psychological distress compared with athletes competing in team sports.…”

“…One plausible explanation relevant to the sport school context is that female student-athletes experience more pressure to perform well in sports, school and social relations, making them more vulnerable to mental health problems. 20 21 Notably, we found that student-athletes competing in individual sports in lower secondary schools were more likely to demonstrate symptoms of psychological distress compared with athletes competing in team sports. This may be due to the additional performance-related stress that individual sport athletes experience.…”

“…Female student-athletes and student-athletes in higher school grades were more likely to demonstrate symptoms of severe sport burn-out. Earlier studies have shown that female student-athletes may be more prone to experience burn-out symptoms in sports, as they often face expectations to excel not only in sports but also in school 20. The fact that older athletes experience more burn-out symptoms in sports may be due to the increasing athletic demands as the transition to senior-level sports approaches.…”