Abstract
Coaches operating in high-performance environments are exposed to a myriad of stressors and, similar to the athletes they work with, they require resources to combat mental ill-health and also facilitate mental well-being. Mindfulness and self-compassion are receiving increased research attention to manage sport participants’ mental health, yet little attention has been paid specifically to high-performance coaches. Using a convergent mixed methods design, this study explored the potential of mindfulness and self-compassion as resources for managing mental health among high-performance coaches. In the qualitative phase, a focus group (n = 5) and interview (n = 1) with high-performance coaches highlighted the perceived relevance and mixed attitudes towards these resources. Mindfulness and self-compassion were perceived to be useful for high-performance coaches, although access to and utilization of these resources may be limited in part by negative stigma surrounding help-seeking behaviours among high-performance coaches. In the quantitative phase, hierarchical multiple regression analysis of survey responses from high-performance coaches (n = 78) revealed that self-compassion predicted mental ill-health beyond mindfulness (ΔR2 = .10, p < .001), while mindfulness predicted mental well-being beyond self-compassion (ΔR2 = .09, p = .003). Qualitative and quantitative data together provided insights into the research purpose that were greater than either approach on its own. These findings emphasize the need for further understanding of how mindfulness and self-compassion fit within mental health programs for high-performance coaches.
