College athletes who have abusive coaches may be more willing to cheat in order to win game than players with more ethical coaches, according to a recent study.

Abusive behavior by college coaches has been a growing concern, following several high-profile incidents of coaches being fired or sued by players for alleged abusive behavior, including screaming insults, shoving or kicking athletes. This study looked only at verbal abuse by asking players whether a coach ridiculed or put them down in front of others.

"Ethical behavior of coaches is always in the spotlight," Mariya Yukhymenko, lead researcher of the study and a visiting research associate at the University of Illinois at Chicago, said in a statement. "Our study found several negative effects related to abusive coaches, including a willingness by players to cheat to win games."

Researchers found that Men's teams were much more willing to cheat than women's teams, and men's football, basketball and baseball teams reported the highest willingness to cheat at large universities in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, where players are often under intense pressure to win.

"Many student athletes in Division I schools are looking to go into professional sports after graduation," Yukhymenko said. "They are striving to do well so that they will be noticed, and they really want to score more points and bring victories to their teams."

For the study, the research team analyzed data from a survey conducted in 2010 by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The survey included nearly 20,000 athletes from 609 colleges, representing 11 men's and 13 women's sports sanctioned by the NCAA.

Although the study did not determine whether abusive coaches actively encouraged or permitted cheating by their teams, there was a correlation between abusive coaches and an increased willingness by players to cheat in order to win.

"Coaches are role models for their athletes," Yukhymenko said. "The way they behave is observed by student athletes and is often repeated."

Players with more ethical coaches were more likely to be happy about their college choice and feel more included on their teams. The study found that some players were willing to cheat even if they had an ethical coach, but the likelihood of cheating increased for players with abusive coaches.

The researchers recommended that college athletic departments conduct workshops or other programs to improve ethical leadership by coaches.

"The impact that athletic coaches have on their athletes potentially affects everything from retention and chances of graduation to how these student athletes coach future generations of young athletes," researchers noted in the study.

The findings were recently published in the APA journal Sport, Exercise, and Performance Psychology.