ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the sport-health relationship is critiqued through the lens of athlete maltreatment. In particular, research to date on athletes' experiences of emotional abuse in the coach-athlete relationship is reviewed and discussed in relation to the consequences for athletes' emotional health. The normalization of athletes' emotionally abusive experiences in the high performance sport environment is highlighted, along with research on the negative implications of emotionally abusive coaching practices on athletes' emotional health and well-being. Emotional abuse, defined as a pattern of emotionally harmful behaviors within a critical relationship, includes such examples as: persistent demeaning comments, name-calling, belittlement, and acts of humiliation. The emphasis on winning performances in sport has been criticized for the consequences it can have on athletes' emotional health as evident in the significant levels of stress and performance-related anxiety reported by many competitive athletes. The negative emotional responses reported by athletes in this study included feeling depressed, low self-worth, low self-confidence, loneliness, anger, and emotional withdrawal.
