Are Male Teen Athletes more likely to Abuse Girlfriends | University of Pittsburgh Study | Orlando Counselor Jim West

Violent sports and dating abuse documented among college athletes and the this study sought out to see if there was the same correlation with high school athletes and the results were very interesting. The study looked at 16 California High Schools and surveyed 1,648 male students.

The study found “hyper masculine” students seem to be drawn to more aggressive sports. The study found that students are 2x more likely to abuse their girlfriend sexually, physically and/or psychologically, if they play both football and basketball. The students that only played football were 50% more likely to abuse their girlfriends. What was interesting was that students who played football or basketball were more likely to abuse their partners than those who did not play sports or those who were involved in wrestling, swimming, or tennis. High School and College wrestling does not have the cheerleaders nor the large crowds that would typically feed into hyper masculine behaviors. Hyper masculine athletes may be drawn to basketball and football as these sports seem to get the largest group of spectators, cheerleaders, and lots of attention from students, girls and scouts. They often are popular and may have a sense of entitlement.

The Superbowl is a great display of huge athletes pummeling each other, while the crowd is cheering, sons and daughters watching ,cheerleaders cheering and players are rewarding their teammates for the awesome aggressive violent play that landed the opposing player on a stretcher.

Spillover Theory | Some coaches think there is a spillover theory where all the drive to dominate the other team, and win the game is spilling over into real life. “Knock’em on their butt,” “be the best” or “win at all costs” may not always be the best message either and how do we turn off this aggression off the field.

Read Entire Article for tips on how to help your teen leave the aggression on the field here