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A life history analysis of a male athlete with an eating disorder
journal contribution
posted on 01.04.2015, 13:10 authored by Anthony PapathomasAnthony Papathomas, David E. LavalleeAn exploratory investigation, employing the life history method, was conducted
with a male athlete with an eating disorder. The focus of the life history is Mike
(pseudonym), an individual with a strong athletic identity, who developed
bulimia amidst aspirations to be an elite sports performer. Interviews were structured
around the life course, beginning with early childhood memories and ultimately
reaching the present day. His narrative suggests the achievement threats
and weight-based performance pressures associated with competitive sport played
a role in precipitating the onset of bulimia nervosa. When such performance
pressures were removed the eating disorder remained and evolved, suggesting that
disordered eating in sport can have deeper roots as opposed to being primarily
situational. Recovery coincided with the cessation of sport participation and
the opening up of a foreclosed identity.
History
School
- Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences