Elite athletes report lower psychological safety and are less likely to report interpersonal violence compared to recreational athletes: a cross-sectional study

Third party mechanisms for athletes to report experiences of interpersonal violence are highly recommended for safeguarding and a priority for sport organisations worldwide. Despite this, athletes can be reluctant to report experiences of interpersonal violence. This could be due to the environment of elite sport where interpersonal violence is often normalised, and there is a lack of psychological safety. The aims of this study were to: 1) determine differences between three competition levels (i.e., recreational, sub-elite, and elite) in psychological safety and intention to report interpersonal violence; and 2) examine if differences between competition levels in intention to report interpersonal violence are attributed to competition level differences in psychological safety. Athletes participating in different competition levels (N=383) completed an anonymous questionnaire that measured psychological safety and intention to report interpersonal violence. Results showed that compared to recreational athletes, elite and sub-elite athletes indicated lower intention to report interpersonal violence, which was attributed to lower feelings of psychological safety reported by these athletes (Partially standardised indirect effect = −0.10 to −0.05). Our results highlight the need to ensure sport leaders (e.g., coaches, managers, directors) actively promote psychologically safe environments that facilitate the reporting of interpersonal violence at all competition levels. Additional support may be required for those at elite and sub-elite levels to help improve feelings of psychological safety in voicing concerns and incidents of interpersonal violence.

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