2026-05-13T15:47:01Zhttps://keep.lib.asu.edu/oai/request

oai:keep.lib.asu.edu:node-2000732025-03-25T17:41:49Zoai_pmh:alloai_pmh:repo_items

200073 https://hdl.handle.net/2286/R.2.N.200073 http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0 2025-05 20 pages Cooksey, Megan Cooksey, Megan Bournias, Rachel Racette, Susan Cisler, Sherry Barrett, The Honors College School of Social and Behavioral Sciences Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics The purpose of this study is to explore the connections between mental and physical health to figure skating, specifically in college students who are likely balancing scholarly and athletic demands. Participants included previous or current intercollegiate competitive figure skaters that are 18 years or older and were recruited by email and social media including Snapchat and Instagram. Participation in the survey was voluntary. After consenting to the study, participants completed the survey consisting of demographics and three standardized measures, the EAT-26 (Eating Attitudes Test), WPS (Weight Pressure in Sport), and The Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. We had 78 participants with 86% being current intercollegiate figure skaters, and14% being alumni. The majority of our participants are within the age range of 18-24 years, identify as female, are in the Pacific section, are current intercollegiate skaters, and have 9+ years of skating experience. Analysis showed that 36% of participants indicated on some level that they struggle with their eating habits and 40% struggle with self-esteem, possibly due to pressures within the sport of figure skating. Other results in our study show that while athletes may feel pressure, 74% of skaters indicate that their peers within the sport do not pressure or ridicule other teammates regarding weight, and many skaters believe that there should not be a weight limit or stigma associated with the sport. It is possible to infer that athletes may have developed these self expectations through years of participation in figure skating, and participation with other intercollegiate team members may help increase self-confidence. Further research on how younger athletes may be impacted by pressures in their individual skating careers would be helpful in determining possible causes for insecurity in eating habits, self-esteem, and body image. In attempt to better the experience of skaters, it may be helpful to further explore in a future study the sources of stigmas relating to weight in the sport of figure skating. Figure Skating Self-esteem Body Image Eating Disorder Weight Pressure Body Image and the Risk of Disordered Eating in Collegiate Figure Skaters