Using a socioecological approach to explore healthy lifestyle in elite sport: a qualitative study of French athletes’, coaches’, and managers’ perspectives

ABSTRACT

Elite athletes are continually subjected to a range of constraints specific to high performance, and these can have a negative impact on their health. Although many studies have explored the individual factors related to risky behaviours and disorders in elite sport contexts, few have focused on health promotion. Consequently, the interpersonal, institutional, and policy factors of the health-related behaviours of elite athletes are still poorly explored. Based on the socioecological model, this study aimed to identify the factors involved in the health-related lifestyle of elite athletes. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 45 participants: athletes (N = 32), their coaches (N = 6) and the managers of elite sport centres (N = 7). Both deductive and inductive thematic analyses were performed. Our results highlight the views of the actors. Regarding intrapersonal factors, resilience qualities and health literacy appeared as key factors in influencing the health-related lifestyle of elite athletes. At the interpersonal level, parents and coaches emerged as the main sources of educational support. Regarding institutional factors, the health policies of the elite sport centres were key factors in supporting the athletes’ healthy lifestyle. These results encourage the development of health promotion programs at different levels of intervention.

KEYWORDS:

• Health promotion
• elite sport
• health related-behaviours
• performance
• multilevel approach

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Author contributions

Conceptualization, Fabienne d’Arripe-Longueville, Anne Vuillemin and Aurélia Chrétien. ; Methodology, Fabienne d’Arripe-Longueville, Anne Vuillemin and Aurélia Chrétien. ; Software, Aurélia Chrétien and Kevin Haffner; Validation, Fabienne d’Arripe-Longueville, Anne Vuillemin, Aurélia Chrétien, Kevin Haffner, Meggy Hayotte and Marjorie Bernier. ; Formal analysis, Fabienne d’Arripe-Longueville, Anne Vuillemin and Aurélia Chrétien. ; Investigation, Aurélia Chrétien and Fabienne d’Arripe Longueville. ; Resources Fabienne d’Arripe-Longueville, Anne Vuillemin. ; Data curation, Aurélia Chrétien. ; Writing—original draft preparation, Aurélia Chrétien. ; Writing—review and editing, Fabienne d’Arripe-Longueville, Anne Vuillemin, Kevin Haffner, Meggy Hayotte and Marjorie Bernier. ; Visualization, Fabienne d’Arripe-Longueville, Anne Vuillemin, Aurélia Chrétien, Kevin Haffner, Meggy Hayotte and Marjorie Bernier. ; Supervision, Anne Vuillemin and Fabienne d’Arripe-Longueville. ; Project administration Fabienne d’Arripe-Longueville, Anne Vuillemin. ; Funding acquisition Fabienne d’Arripe-Longueville, Anne Vuillemin. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Institutional review board statement

The study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki and approved by the Ethics Committee for Non-Interventional Research of Université Côte d’Azur (authorization N°2020–77).

Informed consent statement

Written informed consent has been obtained from the participant(s) to publish this paper.

Data availability statement

The data presented in this study are available in French on request from the corresponding authors. The data are not publicly available due to the ethical restrictions related to the confidentiality and anonymity of participants.

Additional information

Funding

AC was supported by a PhD grant from the Région Sud Provence-Alpes Côte d’Azur, France, and co-supported by the CREPS PACA (Centre de Ressources d’Expertise et de Performance Sportive de la région Provence Alpes Côte d’Azur).

Notes on contributors

Aurélia Chrétien

Aurélia Chrétien is PhD student at the “Laboratoire Motricité Humaine, Expertise, Sport, Santé” (LAMHESS) in Université Côte d’Azur, France. As part of her PhD, she is working on the HEROES project (HEalth pROmotion in Elite Sport). Her current research interest focus on the factors related to health behaviours in elite sport and on psychological resilience in sport context.

Fabienne D’arripe-Longueville

Fabienne d’Arripe-Longueville is Full Professor at the “Laboratoire Motricité Humaine, Expertise, Sport, Santé” (LAMHESS) in Université Côte d’Azur, France. Her current research interests focus on psychological barriers and facilitators to engagement in physical activities, and also on risk and protective factors of health behaviours in elite athletes.

Kevin Haffner

Kevin Haffner is a master student at the “Centre de Recherche sur l’Education les Apprentissages et la Didactique” (CREAD), in Université de Bretagne Occidentale. His current research focus on the health-related behaviours and lifestyle in elite sport.

Meggy Hayotte

Meggy Hayotte is Assistant Professor at the “Laboratoire Motricité Humaine, Expertise, Sport, Santé” (LAMHESS) in Université Côte d’Azur, France. Her current research interests focus on the promotion of physical activity and health through technology in vulnerable populations.

Marjorie Bernier

Marjorie Bernier is associate professor at the “Centre de Recherche sur l’Éducation les Apprentissages et la Didactique” (CREAD), in Université de Bretagne Occidentale. Her current research interest focus on mindfulness and cognitive-behavioural interventions for sports performance, and mindfulness and physical activity for health.

Anne Vuillemin

Anne Vuillemin is university Full Professor at the “Laboratoire Motricité Humaine, Expertise, Sport, Santé” (LAMHESS) in Université Côte d’Azur, France. Her current research interest focus on public health and on the conditions for the effectiveness of health prevention and promotion intervention programs.