Prevalence of interpersonal violence in sports clubs in Germany

Distressing reports from research and practice illustrate the vital need for protection against interpersonal violence (IV) in sports. IV is defined as the intentional use of force or power between individuals and includes psychological, physical and sexual violence, and neglect. This study aims to illuminate the scope of this issue within German sports clubs by determining the prevalence of IV, both within and outside the sporting context, and to identify risk factors.

The cross-sectional online survey included questions about personal and sports-related demographics as well as experiences of IV within and outside the sports context. The questionnaire was developed based on existing measures of IV (including IVACS-Q and IVIS). The convenience sample consisted of 4,367 current or former members of German sports clubs (response rate 16.1%). Mean age was 41.4 years (SD = 17.6), and athletic level ranged from recreational to international, thus representing the full range of sport club members. Descriptive statistics were used to assess the prevalence of IV, and chi-squared tests, phi correlations, and logistic regression were used to determine associations between IV inside sports and gender, age, athletic level, early specialization, and experiences outside of sports.

A majority (70.0%) of participants reported at least one experience of IV within a sports club. A large overlap with experiences outside of sports (59.0%) was found. Psychological violence was the most prevalent form (63.0%). All forms of IV were closely intertwined, especially psychological violence, which often co-occurred with other forms of IV. IV experiences outside of sports were strongly related to IV inside sports. Individual and sports-specific characteristics such as, gender or athletic level, partially proved to be risk factors for some forms of IV.

Our findings suggest that sports club members are affected by IV, even at lower levels of performance and across all age groups. Results indicate that experiences of IV inside and outside sports are related, implying an increased risk of revictimization in either context. Individual and sports-specific characteristics need to be discussed as differentiated risk factors to improve prevention.