An Investigation of the Social Support Experiences of High-Level Sports Performers

Abstract

Lack of consensus regarding the nature and conceptual definition of the social support construct has led to a plethora of different forms of measurement of this psychosocial variable, many with psychometric limitations. Beyond the psychometric limitations of some measures, in sport there is also a need for measures to be relevant to the specific experiences of sports performers. In order to gain a greater understanding of the social support experiences of sportspeople, 10 highlevel sports performers were interviewed regarding their experiences of social support. Principles of the grounded theory (Glaser & Strauss, 1967) approach were adopted for analysis of their responses and insights. Four dimensions of support were generated, within each of which were comments relating to sport-specific support and comments relating to support not directly concerning the sport itself. The dimensions were labeled: Emotional; Esteem; Informational; and Tangible. Example quotes are given to highlight each dimension of support, and implications for intervention are derived.

The PASS-Q: The Perceived Available Support in Sport Questionnaire

“…Although different multidimensional models of functional support have been proposed, Cutrona and Russell (1990) noted that the models appear to converge on emotional, esteem, informational, and tangible dimensions of support. These four dimensions are congruent with those found in sport by Rees and Hardy (2000), who conducted interviews with high-level athletes about their social support experiences. Emotional support refers to others being there for comfort and security, leading to a person feeling loved and cared for.…”

“…The items for the present questionnaire were derived from statements made by high-level athletes about their social support experiences in sport (Rees & Hardy, 2000). Many of the items have been used in previous perceived available support measures designed for speci c studies examining the in uence of perceived available support on performance outcome (Freeman & Rees, 2008) and performancerelated variables (Rees & Hardy, 2004).…”

“…Concerns have been raised regarding the content validity of such measures in sport because they assess general everyday support issues and do not account for the support issues that might be of speci c relevance to high level sportspeople (Rees et al, 1999). Rees and Hardy (2000) found that, in addition to support with everyday issues, athletes required unique forms of support to help with sport-speci c demands, such as selection issues, tness concerns, and problems in training and competition. A recommendation in the social support literature is that measures of social support should be relevant to the target population and the situational context in which they are used (Bianco & Eklund, 2001;House & Kahn, 1985;Wills & Shinar, 2000).…”

The effects of perceived and received support on objective performance outcome

“…This followed two recommendations from the social support literature: a) social support measures should be relevant to the situational context in which they are being used; and b) social support researchers should write new items to capture specific aspects of the support needs of the target population (Bianco & Eklund, 2001;House & Kahn, 1985;Wills & Shinar, 2000). The items were derived from statements made by high-level sportspeople about their social support experiences (Rees & Hardy, 2000), and represented dimensions of emotional, esteem, informational, and tangible support. These four dimensions of support were identified by Rees & Hardy (2000) and are congruent with the common set of dimensions identified by Cutrona & Russell (1990) in a review of multidimensional models of social support 1 .…”

“…The items were derived from statements made by high-level sportspeople about their social support experiences (Rees & Hardy, 2000), and represented dimensions of emotional, esteem, informational, and tangible support. These four dimensions of support were identified by Rees & Hardy (2000) and are congruent with the common set of dimensions identified by Cutrona & Russell (1990) in a review of multidimensional models of social support 1 . Prior to data collection, both authors scrutinised the items making up each scale.…”