Perfectionism and Attitudes Toward Sport Psychology Support and Mental Health Support in Athletes

Abstract

Attitudes toward help-seeking will contribute to whether athletes ask for support for performance and mental health issues when needed. While research outside of sport has found perfectionism is related to negative attitudes toward help-seeking, no studies have examined the relationship in sport. The authors provided the first test of whether perfectionism predicted attitudes toward both sport psychology support and mental health support. One hundred and sixty-six collegiate athletes completed measures of perfectionism and attitudes toward sport psychology support and mental health support. Multiple regression analyses revealed that perfectionistic concerns positively predicted closedness and stigma toward sport psychology support and mental health support, and negatively predicted help-seeking toward mental health support. However, perfectionistic strivings negatively predicted stigma toward sport psychology support and mental health support, and positively predicted confidence in sport psychology support and help-seeking toward mental health support. Athletes higher in perfectionistic concerns are less likely to seek support when required.

Ready for Failure? Irrational Beliefs, Perfectionism and Mental Health in Male Soccer Academy Players

“…The review developed by Hill et al (2018) on perfectionism in sport underlines the importance of this trait for athletes, highlighting the debilitating effect of the perfectionistic concerns on performance, and the need to monitor these in order to protect the athletes' wellbeing. The study by Watson et al (2021) also remarks that perfectionistic concerns contribute to more negative attitudes dealing with mental health difficulties and asking for psychological support when necessary. On the other hand, focusing on perfectionistic strivings, the review by Hill et al (2018) also shows that these could have positive effects on performance (e.g., highly energizing), but also predispose to motivational and psychological vulnerability, debating then that they are only associated with an adaptive motivation, part of a healthy effort for excellence.…”

Effectiveness of an online acceptance and commitment therapy programme for perfectionism in soccer players: A randomized control trial.

“…Self-help guides have found themselves to be an important source of support for those high in perfectionism (Steele & Wade, 2008). This type of intervention may help overcome some of the stigma or reluctance to seek out support that is related to perfectionism (Watson, Hill, & Madigan, 2021). This type of work may therefore be especially beneficial for perfectionistic athletes and an initial way of engaging and supporting them prior to introducing more traditional ways of working.…”

“…The module focused on stigma, specifically helping athletes overcome any stigma they may have had toward sport psychology. It is worth mentioning that the athletes self-identified and self-enrolled for the intervention, so they may not have typically high levels of stigma associated with perfectionism (Watson, Hill, & Madigan, 2021). The module contained a large educational component, to help the athlete better understand sport psychology and how ACT will help with their perfectionism.…”

Cumulative lifetime stressor exposure and health in elite athletes: the moderating role of perfectionism

“…One potential explanation for this finding could be that in order to portray themselves as “perfect,” the athletes in this study may have masked symptoms of mental ill-health to hide perceived “negative” aspects of themselves ( Hewitt et al, 2003 ). Indeed, the desire to appear perfect has been found to be associated with greater stigma and more negative attitudes towards seeking professional help for mental health difficulties (e.g., Watson et al, 2021 ). Furthermore, there were no significant moderation effects for other-oriented or socially-prescribed perfectionism and mental and physical health complaints.…”