Collegiate coaches' knowledge of eating disorders

Area of Science:

• Sports Medicine
• Psychology
• Public Health

Background:

• Eating disorders pose significant risks to collegiate athletes' health and performance.
• Coaches play a crucial role in athlete well-being and may be the first to identify concerns.
• Current knowledge and educational support for coaches regarding eating disorders are not well-understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate collegiate coaches' understanding of eating disorders.
• To assess coaches' confidence in their knowledge about athlete eating disorders.
• To gather demographic data on coaches' prior education and athletic departments' role in providing eating disorder education.

Main Methods:

• A two-part questionnaire was administered to 258 NCAA Division I-A coaches across 5 universities.
• 138 coaches (53.5% response rate) completed the survey, which included 30 true-false questions on eating disorders.
• Questions covered etiology, signs/symptoms, management, risk factors, and prevention, with confidence ratings and demographic data collected.

Main Results:

• Coaches demonstrated a need for enhanced knowledge across all eating disorder domains.
• Educational programs on eating disorders were infrequently sponsored by athletic departments for coaches or athletes.
• Communication gaps existed between athletic departments and coaches regarding available eating disorder educational resources.

Conclusions:

• Collegiate coaches would benefit from comprehensive education on all aspects of eating disorders.
• Further research is necessary to validate findings and assess educational effectiveness in eating disorder prevention.
• Future studies should explore sport-specific and sex-specific knowledge differences among coaches.