A Life History Analysis of a Male Athlete with an Eating Disorder

Abstract

. A life history analysis of a male athlete with an eating disorder. Journal of Loss and Trauma, 11, Abstract An exploratory investigation, employing the life history method, was conducted with a male athlete with an eating disorder. The focus of the life history is Mike (pseudonym), an individual with a strong athletic identity, who developed bulimia amidst aspirations to be an elite sports performer. Nine interviews were conducted, and the focus was Mike's athletic career and eating disorder experiences. Interviews were structured around the life course, beginning with early childhood memories and ultimately reaching the present day. In total, 11 hours of life history data were gathered. All interviews were recorded and transcribed. Schlossberg's (1981) model of human adaptation to transition provided a framework to discuss critical life transitions or epiphanies. As a perfectionist, eager to please adolescent, Mike was at high-risk for eating disorder development. His narrative suggests the achievement threats and weight-based performance pressures associated with elite competitive sport played a role in precipitating the onset of bulimia nervosa. When such performance pressures were removed the eating disorder remained and evolved, suggesting that disordered eating in sport can have deeper roots as opposed to being primarily situational. Recovery coincided with the cessation of sport participation and the opening up of a foreclosed identity.

Editorial: Towards a more sophisticated approach to eating disorders in sport research

“…Qualitative approaches may be particularly useful for identifying psychosocial variables that operate in the development and maintenance of disordered eating. For example, in-depth life history work has identified the presence of an exclusive athletic identity as a potentially important precursor to disturbed eating behaviors (see Jones, Glintmeyer, & McKenzie, 2005;Papathomas & Lavallee, 2006).…”

Searching for masculine capital: Experiences leading to high drive for muscularity in men.

“…By interpreting DFM as being part of a person's identity, we can appreciate why the DFM may be related to psychological disorders. Identity related schemata appear to be a central feature of both psychological disorders (e.g., depression, disordered eating) and the DFM (c.f., Papathomas & Lavallee, 2006). To date, DFM researchers have not viewed the desires as being tied to self-identity.…”

“…This approach has advanced knowledge in other body-related fields by revealing the experiences that sensitised individuals to develop specific pathologies (e.g., Papathomas & Lavallee, 2006).…”

Living, resisting, and playing the part of athlete: Narrative tensions in elite sport

“…These include, for example, spinal cord injury (e.g., Smith & Sparkes, 2002;Sparkes & Smith, 2003), mental health (e.g., Carless & Douglas, 2008;Carless & Sparkes, 2008), eating practices (e.g., Papathomas & Lavallee, 2006;Busanich, McGannon & Schinke, 2012), flow (Sparkes & Partington, 2003), aging (e.g., Phoenix & Smith, 2011), and professional sport (e.g., Douglas & Carless, 2006a. Building on this growing tradition, we use a narrative approach in this study to explore the stories shared by elite and professional sportspeople; the cultural narratives these stories draw upon; and their implications for identity development and life experiences.…”