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Could rugby star Brian Moore's career have been shaped by his reported child abuse?

Brian Moore, England Ruby’s ‘Pit Bull’ discloses in his second – and much more frank – autobiography, that he was sexually abused during childhood. Why should it shock us that it should happen to him? Is it because he was big, powerful and ferocious? Perhaps, but he wasn’t always. Like other children, when they are small they are at risk of being taken advantage of by bigger more powerful adults.

Could it be that what he experienced as a child fuelled him to become the rugby star later in life? Well, quite possibly. This is because as children, if we should get abused by adults, we usually end-up with a different mix of intense emotions than those with a more ideal childhood. The abused can grow up with more anger towards other people for having been taken advantage of, which can remain throughout life. They can experience more anxiety as they fear being taken advantage of again. Or, they may experience low mood or depression as they learned that they weren’t good enough or that there was something wrong with them – why else would they have been mistreated in such a way?

How do we know that someone like Brian Moore’s competitive career has been influenced by his abusive experiences? You can’t know for certain, but any of the following would indicate that they have been:

If the sportsperson believes that his or her childhood experiences are linked – e.g., they use these earlier experiences to get them fired-up and to motivate them.

If the intense anger emotions that are channelled into sport remain or even become more intense after retirement from sport.

If memories of these experiences from childhood become more frequent and troubling after retirement.

If the sportsperson engages in successful psychological therapy for these issues during their competitive career and the anger, drive, motivation and performance then drops.


This sports psychology comment was written following an interview that Dr Victor Thompson gave to the Independent newspaper following the release of Brian Moore’s autobiography in Jan 2010.

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