“On an island alone”: the mental health and well-being of swimming coaches in the United Kingdom

McLoughlin, E ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3630-6055, Healy, L ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1372-7308, Johnston, J ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2954-5234 and Stanford, J ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8380-1804, 2026. “On an island alone”: the mental health and well-being of swimming coaches in the United Kingdom. The Sport Psychologist. ISSN 0888-4781

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Abstract

This project examined the mental health and well-being of swimming coaches in the United Kingdom. We explored the impact of work-place stressors and the satisfaction or thwarting of coaches’ basic psychological needs on mental ill-health, well-being, and burnout. Using a mixed-method design, 146 coaches across competitive levels completed an online questionnaire assessing symptoms of mental ill-health, well-being, burnout, stressors, basic psychological needs, and open-ended questions about their coaching experiences. Workload and (a lack of) work-life balance, feeling isolated, undermined, perceiving a lack of support, and the satisfaction or thwarting of basic psychological needs were key drivers for coaches’ symptoms of mental ill-health, well-being, and burnout. Coaches had limited awareness of support services. Findings highlight the need for multi-level interventions: at an individual level, improved mental health education, coping resources, and access to services; and at an organizational level, strategies to ensure manageable workloads and identify and support coaches at risk.

Item Type:	Journal article
Publication Title:	The Sport Psychologist
Creators:	McLoughlin, E., Healy, L., Johnston, J. and Stanford, J.
Publisher:	Human Kinetics
Date:	11 February 2026
ISSN:	0888-4781
Identifiers:	Number Type 10.1123/tsp.2025-0065 DOI 2575419 Other
Rights:	Accepted author manuscript version reprinted, by permission, from The Sport Psychologist, 2026, https://doi.org/10.1123/tsp.2025-0065. © Human Kinetics, Inc.
Divisions:	Schools > School of Science and Technology
Record created by:	Laura Borcherds
Date Added:	13 Feb 2026 11:53
Last Modified:	13 Feb 2026 11:53
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/55270

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