Stress and Coping In Sport and Exercise

1. Stress and Coping In Sport and Exercise Ailsa Anderson Jane McKay 25 October 2005

2. Lecture Overview • Defining stress • Focus on the cognitive transactional model of stress • Examine sport specific stress research

3. * Costs of stress • 13.4 million working days lost in Britain each year because of stress • In athletes - influence quality of sport experience and performance

4. * Stress and health link • More life events >  stress on body and  chance of emotional and physical illness • Possibly – (NB – not peer reviewed source) • Less than 150 = 37%  chance of illness in next 2 years • 150 - 300 = 51%  chance of illness in next 2 years • Over 300 = 80% chance of illness in next 2 years

5. * Contemporary perspectives • Based on Lazarus & Folkman (1984) • Stress is best viewed as a dynamic process • Stress helps individual adapt to the world • Stress involves a transaction between the individual and the external world • Stress cannot be understood without consideration of the cognitive processes involved

6. * Individual differences e.g., Trait anxiety e.g., coping style • Response • Arousal ? • Behaviour • Emotions (incl Anxiety) Cognitive Appraisal Primary Appraisal: Is this important Secondary appraisal: Can I cope • Situation • (e.g., World cup qualifier) • Demands Coping The Stress Process (from Lazarus & Folkman, 1984)

7. * Cognitive Appraisal • Primary Appraisal: • Are the demands of this situation important to me and likely to threaten or harm my well-being and achievement of goals? • 3 outcomes: • Situation is IRRELEVANT • Situation is BENIGN POSITIVE (+ve implications for well-being) • Situation is STRESSFUL

8. * Can I cope? • If yes = then negative emotional response doesn’t occur (balance – Cox (2002) • If no = negative emotional response (e.g., anxiety ) • NB – secondary appraisal may lead to changes to primary appraisal

9. * Sport Stress Research • In recent research qualitative methodologies have been adopted • Can’t observe stress – in the athletes’ experiences • Get close to athletes so can understand their holistic experiences

10. Actual quote ‘ I just didn’t get on with my coach – he really wound me up” Description of quote Conflict with coach Description of quote Conflict with partner * Theme building (example) 1st order Theme Not getting on with others 2nd order Theme NEGATIVES.O. R/SHIPS 1st order Theme Having others tell me what to do

11. SOURCES OF STRESS IN ELITE UK TRACK ATHLETES Jane McKay, PhD University of Strathclyde

12. Sources of Stress in Elite UK Track Athletes • Why this research interested me: • Personal experiences of stress in sport and curiosity in other athletes’ experiences • Interest in qualitative method and wanted to ‘get in the heads’ of other athletes • Good starting point to overall research project

13. Aims of Study • 1. To investigate sources of stress among elite UK track athletes • 2. To address limitations of previous studies, including: • Study samples focusing on US athletes • No samples studied from track and field • Emphasis on major sources of stress only

14. Participants • Participants = 5 male and 7 female elite track athletes (had all represented UK in competition, not all professional)

15. Participants • All participants knew me as a fellow athlete and this raised concerns, e.g: • Would they be open during interviews? • Fellow Competitors could not be involved • Confidentiality would be of special importance

16. However, several advantages emerged: • People were willing to participate • Easy to establish trust • Familiarity with world of athletics (e.g. terminology) • One participant stated: “I’ve gathered that at races you’re a worse stress maniac than me so I didn’t mind telling you stuff!”

17. Methods • Using Lazarus & Folkman’s (1984) definition of stress, participants were interviewed about sources of stress experienced in training, competition and other sporting areas. Interviews lasted ~ 1hour and were tape recorded

18. Data Analysis • 1. All tapes were transcribed (endless!) 276 pages of text, took ~ 50 hours • Stress sources identified and categorised using theme building process • Took 3 months to complete analysis

19. Results • 664 stress sources were identified and grouped into 13 general dimensions. Largest themes included: • Competitive concerns; pressure to perform; organisational factors; demands of athletic lifestyle; relationship problems; underperforming; injury/illness.

20. Other Important Findings • No single stress source was mentioned by all 12 participants - highlights individual differences in the stress process (L&F, ’84) • Stress was not just associated with competition, it came from all aspects of participants’ sporting lives • Biggest stress categories that emerged in the study will now be discussed

21. Competitive Concerns • Has emerged in all other studies • Biggest dimension in this study, included 3 large stress categories: • Self-doubts (e.g. uncertainty about fitness) • Cognitive concerns (e.g. feeling inferior to competitors, fear of pain) • Somatic concerns (e.g. ‘butterflies’, heavy legs)

22. Competitive Concerns • Example of theme: • “…and very often coming out into the final and seeing people around you who you know are better than you and you suddenly feel the pressure thinking, ‘I can’t do this, there’s so many people here, what am I going to do?’”

23. Pressure to Perform • Frequently identified in other studies • Included 2 large stress categories in this study: • Pressure to perform from others (e.g. coach/parental pressure) • Pressure to perform from self

24. Pressure to Perform • Example of theme: • “My Dad always expects me to do well at sports, ‘cause he was a big sportsman as well, yeah his expectations are a big source of stress.”

25. Organisational Factors • Many parallels with Woodman & Hardy’s (2001) findings on organisational stress • Included stress sources relating to operation of governing body • E.g. poor timetabling at competitions, lack of support from governing body, funding and selection issues, delays in competition schedules

26. Organisational Factors • Example of theme: • “When I’ve become injured and haven’t performed as well as I should, people just ignore you. People within the governing body just don’t pay attention to you.”

27. Demands of Athletic Lifestyle • Again, has emerged in previous studies • Highlights that stress affects all areas of athletes’ lives • Comprised 2 stress categories: • Lifestyle demands (e.g. having an unbalanced lifestyle, having to travel lots) • Personal demands (e.g. time/financial demands, difficulties keeping friends)

28. Demands of Athletic Lifestyle • Example of theme: • “I worry about being skint and not being able to have a sort of normal life, you know, boozing and birds and stuff.”

29. Relationship Problems • Again, has emerged in previous studies • Included 2 categories: • perceived negative behaviours of others (e.g. competitors, track officials, coach, training partners, media) • interpersonal conflict (e.g. conflict with coach and parents)

30. Relationship Problems Example of theme: “He used to turn round and tell me I was too fat and that I needed to lose weight and I just used to get really pissed off with him, em, it caused a lot of problems in my personal life ‘cause I used to think about it all the time.”

31. Underperforming • Has not often emerged as a major stress category in previous studies • Was a big issue for athletes in this study and involved 2 categories: • Underperforming in training (e.g. worries about reasons for underperforming) • Underperforming in competition (e.g. being beaten, pacing the race badly)

32. Underperforming Example of theme: “I could’ve easily got a medal and there was a huge chance I could’ve won but because of poor tactics I didn’t get into the final and I was extremely disappointed”

33. Injury/Illness • Has not often emerged as a major stress category in previous studies but a big issue for athletes in this study • Comprised several themes such as: • Being unable to train/compete due to injury/illness • Fear of injury-re-injury • Lack of support during injury (e.g. medical, social) • Difficulties dealing with injury/illness

34. Injury/Illness • Example of theme: • “I actually got taken to a sport psychologist when I got injured again because I just forever break down ‘cause all my injuries are so long-term and I know that from the start”

35. Key Similarities with Previous Findings • Most categories of stress paralleled those reported elsewhere despite unique sample • Supports the notion that a core group of stressors exists (Noblet & Gifford, 2002, p.11)

36. Key Similarities with Previous Findings • Based on this studies and others, these core stressors revolve around: Competitive concerns, pressure to perform, demands of the sporting lifestyle and negative aspects of interpersonal relationships

37. Key Differences • More stress sources identified (focus on not just major stress) • Allows a more comprehensive understanding of stress in sport

38. Key Differences • Underperforming and Injury/Illness were bigger issues for athletes in this study • Suggests that although some stressors may be shared across sports, others might reflect the unique demands of the individual sport

39. Final Thoughts • Qualitative method allowed an in-depth & unrestricted understanding of stress experiences • Served to ‘set the scene’ for next studies of project • Personal perspective – nice to know that other athletes have similar experiences of stress

40. Summary • Approaches to stress • Focus on Lazarus & Folkman’s (1984) transactional model • Example of sport specific research on stress