Players’ and coaches’ perceptions of players’ mental health help-seeking process in elite level football

Mental health among athletes has been a discussed topic in the media in the past years and multiple athletes have started sharing public stories about their mental health problems. The topic has also gained more and more interest in the area of research in recent years. This Master’s thesis concen...

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Main Author: Hyvönen, Laura
Other Authors: Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences, Liikuntatieteellinen tiedekunta, Sport and Health Sciences, Liikunta- ja terveystieteet, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylän yliopisto
Format: Master's thesis
Language:eng
Published: 2024
Subjects:
Online Access: https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/93000
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author Hyvönen, Laura
author2 Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences Liikuntatieteellinen tiedekunta Sport and Health Sciences Liikunta- ja terveystieteet University of Jyväskylä Jyväskylän yliopisto
author_facet Hyvönen, Laura Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences Liikuntatieteellinen tiedekunta Sport and Health Sciences Liikunta- ja terveystieteet University of Jyväskylä Jyväskylän yliopisto Hyvönen, Laura Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences Liikuntatieteellinen tiedekunta Sport and Health Sciences Liikunta- ja terveystieteet University of Jyväskylä Jyväskylän yliopisto
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description Mental health among athletes has been a discussed topic in the media in the past years and multiple athletes have started sharing public stories about their mental health problems. The topic has also gained more and more interest in the area of research in recent years. This Master’s thesis concentrated on finding out the perceptions of the players’ help-seeking process in elite level football. The purpose of the study was to examine how players and coaches in Kansallinen Liiga perceived the current mental health help-seeking process for players, what were their needs for the process at the moment, and how the support system could be developed in the future if needed. Additionally, perspectives about responsibilities to offer support were asked. This qualitative study using semi-structured interviews as a data gathering method was conducted among Finnish football players and coaches in Kansallinen Liiga, the highest women’s football league in Finland. Three coaches and three players from six different teams were interviewed. The themes which guided the interviews were “the state at the moment”, “responsibilities”, and “development”. The data was analyzed using the thematic analysis method and the most prominent themes were acquired from the data. Four themes stood out from the data. They were related to the unclarity of the process, help-seeking activity, state of stigma, and development of the process. The results showed that there was unclarity where the help for players’ mental health problems could be sought among players and coaches or there was no clear path for help-seeking. Because of this, multiple different places were mentioned as a way to seek help. Some of the mentioned paths were schooling systems, sport academies or Player’s Union’s services. However, not all the services were familiar to every participant of the study or were accessible for every player in the league. Related to help-seeking activity, several barriers and facilitators to seek help were mentioned. One of the barriers was stigma. It was thought that even though it has been reducing in the past years, stigma still existed at some levels in the football scene and affected help-seeking activity. Several development ideas for the mental health help-seeking process were acquired in the study. They were concentrated on reducing stigma, adding education to various parties in the sporting context, creating low threshold path to seek help, and in prevention through learning tools and techniques to develop mental skills. These results could be used to improve present or develop future mental health policies and services in football even though more research is needed on the topic.
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The \ntopic has also gained more and more interest in the area of research in recent years. This\nMaster\u2019s thesis concentrated on finding out the perceptions of the players\u2019 help-seeking process \nin elite level football. The purpose of the study was to examine how players and coaches in \nKansallinen Liiga perceived the current mental health help-seeking process for players, what \nwere their needs for the process at the moment, and how the support system could be developed \nin the future if needed. Additionally, perspectives about responsibilities to offer support were \nasked.\n\nThis qualitative study using semi-structured interviews as a data gathering method was \nconducted among Finnish football players and coaches in Kansallinen Liiga, the highest \nwomen\u2019s football league in Finland. Three coaches and three players from six different teams \nwere interviewed. The themes which guided the interviews were \u201cthe state at the moment\u201d, \n\u201cresponsibilities\u201d, and \u201cdevelopment\u201d. The data was analyzed using the thematic analysis \nmethod and the most prominent themes were acquired from the data.\n\nFour themes stood out from the data. They were related to the unclarity of the process, help-seeking activity, state of stigma, and development of the process. The results showed that there \nwas unclarity where the help for players\u2019 mental health problems could be sought among \nplayers and coaches or there was no clear path for help-seeking. Because of this, multiple \ndifferent places were mentioned as a way to seek help. Some of the mentioned paths were\nschooling systems, sport academies or Player\u2019s Union\u2019s services. 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spellingShingle Hyvönen, Laura Players’ and coaches’ perceptions of players’ mental health help-seeking process in elite level football help-seeking support system process development Sport and Exercise Psychology Liikuntapsykologia 5021 jalkapallo jalkapalloilijat mielenterveys urheilijat henkinen hyvinvointi football football players mental health athletes mental well-being
title Players’ and coaches’ perceptions of players’ mental health help-seeking process in elite level football
title_full Players’ and coaches’ perceptions of players’ mental health help-seeking process in elite level football
title_fullStr Players’ and coaches’ perceptions of players’ mental health help-seeking process in elite level football Players’ and coaches’ perceptions of players’ mental health help-seeking process in elite level football
title_full_unstemmed Players’ and coaches’ perceptions of players’ mental health help-seeking process in elite level football Players’ and coaches’ perceptions of players’ mental health help-seeking process in elite level football
title_short Players’ and coaches’ perceptions of players’ mental health help-seeking process in elite level football
title_sort players and coaches perceptions of players mental health help seeking process in elite level football
title_txtP Players’ and coaches’ perceptions of players’ mental health help-seeking process in elite level football
topic help-seeking support system process development Sport and Exercise Psychology Liikuntapsykologia 5021 jalkapallo jalkapalloilijat mielenterveys urheilijat henkinen hyvinvointi football football players mental health athletes mental well-being
topic_facet 5021 Liikuntapsykologia Sport and Exercise Psychology athletes football football players help-seeking henkinen hyvinvointi jalkapallo jalkapalloilijat mental health mental well-being mielenterveys process development support system urheilijat
url https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/93000 http://www.urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:jyu-202401241490
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