Summary
This Portuguese descriptive study examined the incidence and nature of bullying in youth sport training among 1,458 male adolescent athletes across 9 sports and 97 clubs. The findings indicate that whilst most bullying episodes were of low frequency and short duration, primarily verbal in nature and occurring within sport clubs, repeated and prolonged episodes tended to escalate in complexity, generalising to multiple bullying types and locations. The authors conclude that bullying in youth sport is a significant issue requiring prevention and early intervention strategies involving coaches, peers, and families.
UK applicability
The study's findings from Portuguese youth sport settings may be partially applicable to UK contexts, though UK sport governance, club structures, and cultural factors may differ. The prevalence rates and intervention recommendations could inform UK Sport and national governing bodies' safeguarding policies, though UK-specific research would strengthen evidence for policy adaptation.
Key measures
Prevalence of bullying roles (victimisation 10%, perpetration 11%, bystander participation 35%); bullying type (verbal, physical, social); episode frequency and duration; location (sport club, competition); number of athletes involved; emotional responses; communication about involvement; coping strategies; support sources
Outcomes reported
The study measured the prevalence of bullying roles (victimisation, perpetration, bystander participation), types of bullying, frequency and duration of episodes, locations of occurrence, emotional responses, disclosure patterns, attributed reasons, coping strategies, and victim support sources among male adolescent athletes.
Topic tags
Dig deeper with Pulse AI.
Pulse AI has read the whole catalogue. Ask about this record, its theme, or how the findings apply to UK farming and policy — every answer cites the underlying studies.