Submission Deadline: December 15, 2020
Athlete mental health has become a central focus among scholars and practitioners, internationally. The foci of discussion have spanned such topics as athlete trauma, career transitions, physical relocation, relationships with peers and staff (including coaches, sport psychology consultants, and sport scientists), substance abuse, sleep disorders, and forms of forms of physical and psychological abuse. Compounded with these issues, it has been noted that there has also been stigma associated with mental ill health and also mental health services.
Recently, the European Federation of Sport Psychologists, the International Society of Sport Psychology, and the International Olympic Committee have each authored position stands, comprised of international contributors. More recently, the International Society of Sport Psychology has partnered with the European Federation of Sport Psychologists, The Asia South Pacific Society of Sport Psychology, and the Association of Applied for Applied Sport Psychology in the conceptualisation of the “Consensus Statement on Improving the Mental Health of High Performance Athletes” https://doi.org/10.1080/1612197X.2019.1570473.
Building on the aforementioned contributions, this special issue call is to be focused specifically on athlete mental health surrounding the general preparation, specific preparation, onsite experience, and post-games challenges and solutions. The intention is to collect an international series of contributions from scholars and practitioners engaged in work related to Olympic athletes. The contributions we seek can span contextualised contributions, empirical scholarship, and submissions that are personal positions directly related to the topic at hand.
Hence, the aims with this special issue call are (a) to augment theoretical understanding related to Olympic athlete mental health broadly defined, (b) to encourage diverse methodological approaches through which scholars and practitioners might better understand this important topic, and (c) to provide strong practical solutions that can contribute to the advancement of this topic in the field, through novel, internationally diverse solutions.
The submission guidelines for this special issue are in conformity with the International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology’s submission guidelines: https://www.tandfonline.com/action/authorSubmission?show=instructions&journalCode=rijs20 Authors should submit their work in Scholar One, using the specific submission portal devoted to this special issue.