Impact of Job Insecurity on Psychological Well- and Ill-Being among High Performance Coaches

Abstract

Background: The evaluative nature of high performance (HP) sport fosters performance expectations that can be associated with harsh scrutiny, criticism, and job insecurity. In this context, (HP) sport is described as a highly competitive, complex, and turbulent work environment. The aim of this longitudinal, quantitative study was to explore whether HP coaches’ perceptions of job insecurity and job value incongruence in relation to work would predict their psychological well- and ill-being over time. Methods: HP coaches (n = 299) responded to an electronic questionnaire at the start, middle, and end of a competitive season, designed to measure the following: job insecurity, values, psychological well-being (vitality and satisfaction with work), and psychological ill-being (exhaustion and cynicism). Structural equation model analyses were conducted using Mplus. Results: Experiencing higher levels of job insecurity during the middle of the season significantly predicted an increase in coaches’ psychological ill-being, and a decrease in their psychological well-being at the end of the season. However, value incongruence did not have a significant longitudinal impact. Conclusions: These findings cumulatively indicate that coaches’ perceptions of job insecurity matter to their psychological health at work. Consequently, it is recommended that coaches and organizations acknowledge and discuss how to handle job security within the HP sport context.

Exploring Mental Health and Illness in the UK Sports Coaching Workforce

“…In the present study, coaches’ willingness to engage, or not, in seeking help inside their workplace was shaped by their relations with others (especially colleagues and managers), traditional perceptions of mental illness as a source of stigma, shame, fear, weakness and embarrassment in sport and other aspects of the wider society [ 2 , 45 ], and concerns about job security. Fear of losing one’s job [ 5 , 9 ], of having one’s credibility and ability to fulfil role expectations questioned, and of risking disciplinary action were indeed of particular concern to coaches in our sample, and were consistent with the experiences of other employees [ 39 , 40 ]. Conversely, positive workplace relations based on trust, confidentiality and a concern with setting an example to others were identified as important reasons for seeking support from others in the workplace [ 39 , 40 ].…”

“…Conversely, positive workplace relations based on trust, confidentiality and a concern with setting an example to others were identified as important reasons for seeking support from others in the workplace [ 39 , 40 ]. The kind and quality of coaches’ workplace relations, an ability to achieve a healthy work–life balance and high levels of workplace control [ 5 , 9 , 26 ], the effective management of boundaries between work and other aspects of life [ 26 , 36 ], and the avoidance of role ambiguity and having too many responsibilities are thus among the effective ways of safeguarding personal mental health and maximising performance [ 5 ]. Together with high levels of mental health literacy and supportive workplace mental health cultures [ 13 ], they also provide the foundations upon which coaches might effectively support the mental health of others, which is one among many responsibilities coaches now assume across all levels of sport and physical activity [ 16 , 17 , 18 , 21 ], and in many countries [ 1 , 22 , 23 , 24 ].…”

“…( Appendix A ) In a sporting context, increasing attention has been paid to the mental health and illness of various groups, including participants, coaches and officials in community (local level) and high-performance sport (at national and international levels). Studies of sports coaches’ mental health have typically been derived from psychology (especially organisational psychology), and have focused on, among other things, coaches’ perceptions and experiences of workplace stressors [ 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 ], work–life balance, stress, coping and burnout [ 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 ], mental health literacy [ 13 ], job control, insecurity and mental wellbeing [ 5 , 9 ], and mental health awareness and seeking help from others [ 14 , 15 ]. Other research has focused on the need to explore other mental health parameters than burnout in coaches [ 16 ], the role coaches are expected to play in supporting the mental health of others, especially young people [ 17 , 18 ], parents’ views on the roles of coaches in supporting mental health [ 19 , 20 ], and the need to provide coaches with evidence-based guidance on mental health to help facilitate the inclusion of participants who experience, or have experienced, mental illness [ 21 ].…”

Analysis of stress level and recovery of formative football coaches. Case studies (Análisis del nivel de estrés y recuperación de los entrenadores de fútbol formativo. Estudios de caso)

“…This result can be partially explained by the small size of the sub-samples of each category. However, there are indications that coaches in higher levels may suffer higher stress levels due to job insecurity (Bentzen et al, 2020). Evidence in the literature indicated that the stress levels of coaches had little variability throughout the season, but seems to be higher at the end of the competitive phase Kellmann et al, 2016).…”

“…However, sports' coaching has been reported as a stressful occupation (Chroni et al 2019;Santos and Costa, 2018). Coaches have to cope with several adverse circumstances, such as inconvenient working hours, traveling, temporary contracts, job insecurity, role conflicts and athlete performance (Bentzen et al, 2020;Chroni et al 2019;Carson et al, 2019). Being affected by this potpourri of straining internal and external stressors may ultimately lead to a chronic stress reaction (Schaffran et al, 2019;Kellmann et al, 2016;Rhind et al, 2013) The stress related to the sport can come from personal (e.g., own high expectations or coach profile) (Arnold et al, 2017;Urbano-Arévalo et al, 2020), competitive (e.g.…”