Table 2.
Description of study sample (n=192)
| At-peak and postpeak athletes (January 2018) from the Swedish Athletics team 2011–17. | |||
| Male athletes (n=86) | Female athletes (n=106) | All athletes (n=192) | |
| Personal characteristics | |||
| Age, mean (SD) | 29.1 (6.9) | 28.8 (6.6) | 28.9 (6.7) |
| Sexual orientation—homosexual/bisexual, n (%) | 0 (0.0) | 7 (6.6) | 7 (3.6) |
| Childhood | |||
| Financially disadvantaged (athlete self-report), n (%) | 17 (19.8) | 16 (15.1) | 33 (17.2) |
| Parents <12 years formal education, n (%) | 20 (23.3) | 28 (26.4) | 48 (25.0) |
| Parents immigrants (at least one parent), n (%) | 12 (14.0) | 4 (3.8) | 16 (8.3) |
| Athletics | |||
| Commencing >12 years of age, n (%) | 28 (32.6) | 32 (30.2) | 60 (31.3) |
| Endurance athlete (middle-distance/long-distance running), n (%) | 35 (40.7) | 31 (29.2) | 66 (34.4) |
| Speed/power athlete (jump, throw, sprints, combined), n (%) | 51 (59.3) | 75 (70.8) | 126 (65.6) |
| At-peak athlete, n (%) | 71 (82.6) | 67 (63.2) | 138 (71.9) |
| Training load >14 hours/week, n (%) | 45 (52.3) | 41 (38.7) | 86 (44.8) |
| Athletics injury previous year, n (%) | 43 (50.0) | 45 (42.5) | 88 (45.8) |
| Suicidal ideation and non-sport injury | |||
| Lifetime suicidal ideation, n (%) | 15 (17.4) | 15 (14.2) | 30 (15.6) |
| Hospital-treated injury previous year, n (%) | 10 (11.6) | 6 (5.7) | 16 (8.3) |
| Abuse victimisation | |||
| Sexual abuse, n (%) | 4 (4.7) | 16 (15.1) | 20 (10.4) |
| Sexual abuse in athletics, n (%) | 1 (1.2) | 4 (3.8) | 5 (2.6) |
| Physical abuse, n (%) | 12 (14.0) | 9 (8.5) | 21 (10.9) |
| Bullying, n (%) | 54 (62.8) | 36 (34.0) | 90 (46.9) |
| Sense of coherence | |||
| SOC-13 (score 13–91), mean (SD) | 68.3 (11.1) | 65.8 (11.7) | 67.0 (11.5) |
| Coping strategies (Brief COPE) | |||
| Self-blame (score 0–6), mean score (SD) | 3.2 (1.5) | 3.4 (1.6) | 3.3 (1.6) |
| ‘Exploiting support to take action’* (score 0–24), mean score (SD) | 15.6 (4.5) | 16.5 (4.0) | 16.1 (4.3) |
| ‘Behavioural disengagement’† (score 0–24), mean score (SD) | 3.0 (2.5) | 3.9 (2.7) | 3.5 (2.7) |
| ‘Humour and positive reframing’‡ (score 0–24), mean score (SD) | 12.3 (3.8) | 12.4 (3.6) | 12.4 (3.7) |
| ‘Turning to religion’§ (score 0–6), mean score (SD) | 0.5 (1.3) | 0.5 (1.2) | 0.5 (1.2) |
*Includes items active coping, planning, using emotional support, using instrumental support.
†Includes items denial, venting, substance use, behavioural disengagement.
‡Includes items positive reframing, acceptance, humour, self-distraction.
§Includes item religion.