IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v18y2020i1p2-d466195.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Potentially Prolonged Psychological Distress from Postponed Olympic and Paralympic Games during COVID-19—Career Uncertainty in Elite Athletes

Author

Listed:
  • Anders Håkansson

    (Depterment of Clinical Sciences Lund, Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Lund University, S-22100 Lund, Sweden
    Region Skåne, Malmö Addiction Center, Clinical Sports and Mental Health Unit, S-20502 Malmö, Sweden)

  • Karin Moesch

    (Region Skåne, Malmö Addiction Center, Clinical Sports and Mental Health Unit, S-20502 Malmö, Sweden
    Swedish Sports Confederation, 114 33 Stockholm, Sweden
    Department of Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences, Lund University, S-22100 Lund, Sweden)

  • Caroline Jönsson

    (Region Skåne, Malmö Addiction Center, Clinical Sports and Mental Health Unit, S-20502 Malmö, Sweden
    FIFPRO (Global Representative for Professional Football Players), 2132 Hoofddorp, The Netherlands
    Spelarföreningen (National Representative for Football Players), 433 63 Sävedalen, Sweden)

  • Göran Kenttä

    (Swedish Sports Confederation, 114 33 Stockholm, Sweden
    The Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences, 114 33 Stockholm, Sweden
    School of Human Kinetics, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON K1N 6N5, Canada)

Abstract

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has had a significant impact on the world of sports due to periods of home quarantine, bans against public gatherings, travel restrictions, and a large number of postponed or canceled major sporting events. The literature hitherto is sparse, but early indications display signs of psychological impact on elite athletes due to the pandemic. However, beyond acute effects from lockdown and short-term interrupted athletic seasons, the postponed and still uncertain Olympic and Paralympic Games may represent a major career insecurity to many athletes world-wide, and may lead to severe changes to everyday lives and potentially prolonged psychological distress. Given the long-term perspective of these changes, researchers and stakeholders should address mental health and long-term job insecurity in athletes, including a specific focus on those with small financial margins, such as many female athletes, parasports athletes, athletes in smaller sports, and athletes from developing countries. Implications and the need for research are discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Anders Håkansson & Karin Moesch & Caroline Jönsson & Göran Kenttä, 2020. "Potentially Prolonged Psychological Distress from Postponed Olympic and Paralympic Games during COVID-19—Career Uncertainty in Elite Athletes," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(1), pages 1-9, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2020:i:1:p:2-:d:466195
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/1/2/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/1/2/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Yot Teerawattananon & Saudamini Vishwanath Dabak, 2020. "COVID vaccination logistics: five steps to take now," Nature, Nature, vol. 587(7833), pages 194-196, November.
    2. Daniel Mon-López & Alfonso de la Rubia Riaza & Mónica Hontoria Galán & Ignacio Refoyo Roman, 2020. "The Impact of Covid-19 and the Effect of Psychological Factors on Training Conditions of Handball Players," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(18), pages 1-14, September.
    3. Marte Bentzen & Göran Kenttä & Anne Richter & Pierre-Nicolas Lemyre, 2020. "Impact of Job Insecurity on Psychological Well- and Ill-Being among High Performance Coaches," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(19), pages 1-15, September.
    4. Maribel Barriopedro & Cristina López de Subijana & Carlos Muniesa, 2018. "Insights into life after sport for Spanish Olympians: Gender and career path perspectives," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(12), pages 1-12, December.
    5. Mohammad Reza Davahli & Waldemar Karwowski & Sevil Sonmez & Yorghos Apostolopoulos, 2020. "The Hospitality Industry in the Face of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Current Topics and Research Methods," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(20), pages 1-20, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Stefan Fröhlich & Christian Imboden & Samuel Iff & Jörg Spörri & Boris B. Quednow & Johannes Scherr & Erich Seifritz & Malte C. Claussen, 2021. "Prevalence and Risk Factors of Psychiatric Symptoms among Swiss Elite Athletes during the First Lockdown of the COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(20), pages 1-12, October.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Shami, Labib & Lazebnik, Teddy, 2022. "Economic aspects of the detection of new strains in a multi-strain epidemiological–mathematical model," Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, Elsevier, vol. 165(P2).
    2. Johann Maria, 2023. "CSR strategy in the hospitality industry: from the COVID-19 pandemic crisis to recovery," International Journal of Contemporary Management, Sciendo, vol. 59(1), pages 1-11, March.
    3. Jad Adrian Washif & Achraf Ammar & Khaled Trabelsi & Karim Chamari & Christabelle Sheau Miin Chong & Siti Fuzyma Ayu Mohd Kassim & Philip Chun Foong Lew & Abdulaziz Farooq & David B. Pyne & Carl James, 2021. "Regression Analysis of Perceived Stress among Elite Athletes from Changes in Diet, Routine and Well-Being: Effects of the COVID-19 Lockdown and “Bubble” Training Camps," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(1), pages 1-15, December.
    4. Anna Ussorowska-Krokosz & Jan Blecharz & Malgorzata Siekanska & Monika Grygorowicz, 2023. "Coping with COVID-19: Can a Sense of Coherence and Social Support Play a Protective Role in the Perception of COVID-19 by Polish Women Football Players? A Cross-Sectional Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(13), pages 1-14, July.
    5. Cristina López de Subijana & Javier Ramos & Carlos Garcia & Jose L. Chamorro, 2020. "The Employability Process of Spanish Retired Elite Athletes: Gender and Sport Success Comparison," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(15), pages 1-12, July.
    6. José Manuel Prieto-Fresco & Daniel Medina-Rebollo & Jesús Fernández-Gavira & Antonio Muñoz-Llerena, 2022. "A Study on the Injury Rate of Spanish Competitive Athletes as a Consequence of the COVID-19 Pandemic Lockdown," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(1), pages 1-14, December.
    7. Mohammad Reza Davahli & Krzysztof Fiok & Waldemar Karwowski & Awad M. Aljuaid & Redha Taiar, 2021. "Predicting the Dynamics of the COVID-19 Pandemic in the United States Using Graph Theory-Based Neural Networks," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(7), pages 1-12, April.
    8. Armando Monterrosa Quintero & Ana Rita Echeverri Rios & Juan Pedro Fuentes-Garcia & Juan Carlos Gonzalez Sanchez, 2022. "Levels of Physical Activity and Psychological Well-Being in Non-Athletes and Martial Art Athletes during the COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(7), pages 1-14, March.
    9. Cristina López de Subijana & Larisa Galatti & Rubén Moreno & Jose L. Chamorro, 2020. "Analysis of the Athletic Career and Retirement Depending on the Type of Sport: A Comparison between Individual and Team Sports," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(24), pages 1-11, December.
    10. Souhail Hermassi & El Ghali Bouhafs & Nicola Luigi Bragazzi & Shiro Ichimura & Khaled E. Alsharji & Lawrence D. Hayes & René Schwesig, 2021. "Effects of Home Confinement on the Intensity of Physical Activity during the COVID-19 Outbreak in Team Handball According to Country, Gender, Competition Level, and Playing Position: A Worldwide Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(8), pages 1-21, April.
    11. Chuanming Sun & Xingyu Chai & Qing Fan & Wenyuan Zhang, 2023. "The Impact of Hygiene Factors on Online Hotel Consumption in China during the COVID-19 Pandemic," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-16, February.
    12. Magdy Sayed Ahmed Abolnasser & Ahmed Hassan Abdou & Thowayeb H. Hassan & Amany E. Salem, 2023. "Transformational Leadership, Employee Engagement, Job Satisfaction, and Psychological Well-Being among Hotel Employees after the Height of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Serial Mediation Model," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(4), pages 1-27, February.
    13. Alicja Jurecka & Paulina Skucińska & Artur Gądek, 2021. "Impact of the SARS-CoV-2 Coronavirus Pandemic on Physical Activity, Mental Health and Quality of Life in Professional Athletes—A Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(17), pages 1-16, September.
    14. M. Priyanka, 2024. "Impact of Covid-19 on Digital Payment System in Service Industry," ComFin Research, Shanlax Journals, vol. 12(1), pages 44-49, January.
    15. Dong Yoon Yoo, 2022. "How to Alleviate Hotel Employees’ Job Stress in the Associations between Job Stressors and Its Consequences," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-14, July.
    16. Jorge Lorenzo Calvo & Miriam Granado-Peinado & Alfonso de la Rubia & Diego Muriarte & Alberto Lorenzo & Daniel Mon-López, 2021. "Psychological States and Training Habits during the COVID-19 Pandemic Lockdown in Spanish Basketball Athletes," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(17), pages 1-13, August.
    17. Emese Csulak & Árpád Petrov & Tímea Kováts & Márton Tokodi & Bálint Lakatos & Attila Kovács & Levente Staub & Ferenc Imre Suhai & Erzsébet Liliána Szabó & Zsófia Dohy & Hajnalka Vágó & Dávid Becker & , 2021. "The Impact of COVID-19 on the Preparation for the Tokyo Olympics: A Comprehensive Performance Assessment of Top Swimmers," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(18), pages 1-12, September.
    18. Alfredo Córdova-Martínez & Alberto Caballero-García & Enrique Roche & Daniel Pérez-Valdecantos & David C. Noriega, 2022. "Effects and Causes of Detraining in Athletes Due to COVID-19: A Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(9), pages 1-12, April.
    19. Ramón Rueda López & Teresa López-Felipe & Virginia Navajas-Romero & Antonio Menor-Campos, 2021. "Lessons from the First Wave of COVID-19. What Security Measures Do Women and Men Require from the Hotel Industry to Protect against the Pandemic?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(5), pages 1-16, February.
    20. Abraham Batalla-Gavalda & Pau Cecilia-Gallego & Fernando Revillas-Ortega & Jose Vicente Beltran-Garrido, 2021. "Variations in the Mood States during the Different Phases of COVID-19’s Lockdown in Young Athletes," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(17), pages 1-9, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2020:i:1:p:2-:d:466195. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.