Jill Colangelo's research while affiliated with Universität Bern and other places

Historically, bicycle riding connoted freedom, independence, and enhanced mental and physical wellbeing for women. Persevering through criticism and moral panic, female cyclists have been competitive since the late 19th century—many earning substantial prize money and prestige. Unfortunately, this progress was not linear in its trajectory and contemporary professional women's cycling continues to be pervaded by structural and cultural challenges, which can have deleterious effects on athlete mental health. Notably, socioeconomic pressures endure, like unstable employment terms, limited team support, and role conflicts. Furthermore, sexual harassment, body shaming, and manipulation may characterize women's experiences with their coaches and teams. Sizable investment gaps between men's and women's teams and competitions often underpin these scenarios of disadvantage. Alongside hindering the development of women's cycling, these adverse circumstances may induce psychosocial risk factors. Within this context, by highlighting sport-specific and sex-specific considerations, the emerging subdiscipline of sports psychiatry can be valuable for protecting and promoting athlete welfare in women's cycling. Raising awareness about extant symptoms, vulnerabilities, contributing behaviours, and systemic issues, can bolster efforts to develop better conditions and care equivalence. To that end, this perspective article draws upon anecdotal and scholarly evidence to provide an overview of psychiatric concerns in women's professional cycling. This informs recommended strategies to improve mental health and advance equality within the sport, which should involve actions from several stakeholders, such as athletes, teams, and governing bodies.

There has been a growing interest around the broader effects of psychopathic traits, particularly in relation to deviant behaviors and the notion of so-called “successful psychopathy”. As significant sociocultural touchstones, sporting events are often characterized by competitiveness and a sense of prestige. However, there has been limited attention towards psychopathic traits across recreational, amateur, and elite sports. Accordingly, we conducted a narrative review synthesizing primary observations on this topic, searching keywords in Scopus, APA PsychNet, and PubMed. Twenty-four academic papers were included in our results, which we thematized around demographic groups, namely: athletes and sport-adjacent non-athletes (i.e., coaches and spectators). Based on empirical findings from the reviewed papers, psychopathic traits could have medicolegal and forensic implications in relation to substance use, aggression, and violence. These could intersect with wider issues around doping, cheating, foul play, and have adverse outcomes for fellow participants, team dynamics, and spectators. Interestingly, our review also indicates that psychopathic traits may have correlations with determination and achievement in sport, echoing developing ideas around “successful psychopathy” in other domains. As such, increased awareness from all stakeholders and further multidisciplinary exchanges are vital to better understand the effects of psychopathic traits in sporting frameworks and their wider consequences.

Introduction: Cycling can confer public mental health advantages for diverse populations, attenuating stressors and strengthening prosocial engagement. Conversely, competitive conditions in high-performance domains may entail prominent psychiatric risk factors that require bespoke interventions. In other sports, certain national federations have introduced mental health schemes for various target populations. However, the extent to which comparable approaches have been adopted across cycling remains unclear. Methods: We sought to gain broader insights into whether European cycling federations (ECFs) have implemented dedicated programmes around mental health, focussing on N=51 ECFs affiliated with the international regulator, the Union Cycliste Internationale. Initially, a search was conducted of ECF websites. Where apposite materials were unavailable, ECFs were contacted via email and phone. Results: 62% of total ECFs (N=32) were captured in the results. Findings were analysed and coded to three categories, namely: “ECF-level literature or initiatives”, “No ECF-level literature or initiatives”, and “No response”. Based on our interpretation, of these N=32 ECFs, n=7 (22%) highlighted literature and strategies either on their website or during contact phases. The remaining n=25 (78%) ECFs noted no official policies or initiatives. Conclusion: Across included ECFs, there appears to be limited consideration about developing mental health schemes, potentially conditioned by resource constraints or disparate organisational priorities and regulations. For those ECFs with relevant programmes, the majority focussed on high-performance contexts, with less attention towards the relationship between cycling and mental health in broader demographics. Accordingly, evidence from different associations and sports could guide effective, tailored approaches.

Despite the public health benefits of cycling in the general population, mental health issues may be evident in high-performance and elite-level competitive domains. With prominent riders disclosing their experiences with psychiatric symptoms, distinctive socioenvironmental factors could exacerbate psychopathological vulnerabilities. This suggests a need for greater mental health awareness amongst stakeholders, supplemented by actions from international and national federations and regulators. To synthesise relevant observations about psychiatric concerns in high-performance and elite-level cycling, we conducted a keyword search of articles in APA PsycINFO, PubMed, and Scopus based on specified exclusion criteria. Thirteen papers were identified that examined mental health issues in high-performance and/or elite-level cycling per classifications from the World Health Organization’s International Classification of Diseases 11th Revision. A large proportion of articles illustrated eating disorder symptomatology, but others discussed attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, anxiety disorder, depression, sleep wake disorders, and substance use disorder. Existing literature underlines important considerations for all stakeholders within the cycling community around mental health initiatives and care provisions, which are currently lacking across the sport. Such programmes could incorporate consensus statements, psychiatric screening, psychoeducation, stigma-reducing policies, and athlete advocacy. These can help mitigate socioenvironmental risk factors and prioritise athlete wellbeing over performance-centred motivations.

Introduction Interest in ultra endurance sport (UES) is increasing, with relevant events growing in popularity. However, these activities may encompass more complex characteristics and demands that do not correspond to scientifically validated correlations between physical activity and improved health. It is unknown whether high volume training for UES can have adverse implications, although certain sociocultural aspects of western society, such as an emphasis on autonomy and self-directed success, may encourage participation as a representation of personal achievement. As media depictions of UES can be highly influential, we aimed to explore prominent messages to better comprehend the values and aspirations of established and aspiring ultra endurance athletes (UEA). Methods Using qualitative, conventional content analysis techniques, we evaluated n = 15 popular YouTube videos on various UES to synthesize the most common themes. A YouTube search was conducted, and videos were selected based on sport and relevance. Subsequently, videos were analyzed and coded to discern the most frequently repeated themes. Results Five recurring themes were identified: discussion of the mental aspects of UES participation; the adoption of folk-tale storytelling; dietary habits of UEA; a focus on pain and suffering; the use of words associated with mental illness as a colloquial descriptor of UES/UEA. Discussion YouTube depictions of UES participation appear to accentuate suffering and co-occurring phenomena as attractive qualities. These resonate with sociocultural ideologies in western contexts, which emphasize fitness and personal success, but appear inconsistent with evidence around potentially adverse health-related implications of UES. Conclusion Discrepancies between popular portrayals of UES and scientific evidence suggest a need for greater community education and information sharing about sport-specific risk factors for physical and mental health conditions and appropriate training protocols. Further research is also required to better define the relationship between motivations for UES participation and overall health using interdisciplinary approaches.

Background: Weight-related issues and adverse weight-management behaviours are prominent concerns in elite-level sports, notably in competitions like men’s road cycling. Whilst other sporting bodies have introduced measures based on Body Mass Index (BMI), no such provision exists in elite-level cycling, which is overseen by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI). However, these may be necessary to protect the short- and long-term health of riders and improve perceptions of the sport. Methods: To ascertain the potential need for targeted policies, we gathered height and weight data from the ProCyclingStats website to investigate BMI trends for the top five male finishers between 1992-2022 in the General Classification (GC) category of the UCI’s Grand Tours: the Giro d’Italia, the Tour de France, and the Vuelta a España. Results: We calculated the BMI of 156 unique top five finishers in the GC of the Grand Tours with a total of n=445 BMI values (this includes riders who had multiple top five finishes in different races and years). Whilst singular data points varied, we observed overall declining mean BMI trends for these cyclists between 1992-2022. Conclusion: Our results supplement existing anecdotal and scholarly evidence and suggest that lower BMIs are increasingly associated with top finishing positions in the GC of the men’s Grand Tours. This could have substantial implications for athletes and regulators, since performance pressures could lead to detrimental weight-management practices that can harm short and long-term health and affect the sport’s reputation. Accordingly, we propose that the UCI could consider multifactorial interventions, including prevention and awareness campaigns, screening programs, and BMI-based guidelines.

Introduction: The popularity of ultra-endurance cycling is increasing. Amongst race participants, sleep deprivation and periods of intermittent or acutely short sleep are common. Scientific research has typically focussed on the physiological or competitive performance based impact of these sleep-related paradigms. However, there is limited evidence about the mental health effects of sleep patterns in ultra-endurance cycling, despite established links between sleep deprivation and psychiatric and psychological issues. Methods: We conducted a narrative review synthesising extant empirical literature about sleep deprivation in ultra-endurance cycling. Results: Based on our search criteria, seven papers were identified discussing sleep patterns in ultra-endurance races. Each of these indicate that sleep deprivation is a prominent aspect of ultra-endurance competitions, with varying implications for riders. Discussion: Using these findings, we highlight the possible mental health consequences of sleep deprivation in these races, with reference to general scientific literature and other ultra-endurance sports. We also advocate for increased knowledge exchanges, regulatory emphasis, and additional research. Conclusion: Sleep deprivation and extreme sleep patterns are a substantial issue in elite-level cycling competitions, raising potential mental health concerns. More attention to this topic is necessary amongst organisers, participants, researchers, and community-level platforms, like the Global Cycling Network.