Swimmers' experiences of organizational stress: Exploring the role of cognitive appraisal and coping strategies

This study investigated sport performers’ coping strategies in response to organizational stressors, examined the utility of Skinner, Edge, Altman, and Sherwood’s (2003) categorization of coping within a sport context, determined the short-term perceived effectiveness of the coping strategies used, and explored appraisal-coping associations. Thirteen national standard swimmers completed semi-structured, interval-contingent diaries every day for 28 days. Results revealed 78 coping strategies, which supported 10 of Skinner et al.’s (2003) families of coping. Twenty-four different combinations of coping families were identified. The perceived most effective coping family used in isolation was self-reliance and in combination was escape and negotiation. Stressful appraisals were associated with varied coping strategies. The results highlight the complexity of coping and point to the importance of appraisal-coping associations. Skinner et al.’s (2003) categorization of coping provides a promising conceptual framework for the development of coping research in sport

Olympic and International Level Sports Coaches’ Experiences of Stressors, Appraisals, and Coping

The aim of this study was to use the cognitive-motivational-relational theory (CMRT) of stress and emotions as a lens to explore psychological stress with Olympic and international level sports coaches. In particular, the study aimed to explore situational properties of stressors and coaches’ appraisals to address voids in the published literature. Guided by my constructionist epistemological position that contains traces of post-positivism and my relativist view of reality, I conducted semi-structured interviews with six women and nine men. I applied abductive logic during latent thematic analyses to organise and analyse the data. The findings suggest that the coaches experienced many stressors that related to 10 themes (e.g. athlete concerns, performance) and that these stressors were underpinned by seven situational properties (e.g. ambiguity, imminence, novelty). The coaches reported challenge and threat appraisals and, to a lesser extent, benefit and harm/loss appraisals. The ways of coping that were discussed with the coaches related to seven families of coping (e.g. dyadic coping, support seeking) that each play a different role in adaptive processes. Collectively, the findings shed new light on the explanatory potential of situational properties and appraisals and go some way towards understanding coaches’ diverse experiences. The CMRT was a useful framework for understanding high level coaches’ stress transactions and, thus, could be used in future research with this unique population. Coaches, practitioners, and researchers should attend to the ways that coaches appraise and cope with stressors to facilitate their adaptation to the potentially stressful nature of coaching at the highest levels

Choking under pressure: The case of elite figure skaters.

Background: Choking in sport is defined as, “a process whereby the individual perceives that their resources are insufficient to meet the demands of the situation, and concludes with a significant drop in performance – a choke” (Hill, et al., 2009: European Journal of Sport Science, 9(4), 203-212, p. 206). It occurs as a result of attentional disturbances caused by heightened anxiety, yet the precise mechanism of choking remains subject to debate. The self-focus models have been presented as the most likely mechanism of choking, although the distraction models have received increasing support, particularly from studies which have adopted qualitative methods (e.g., Hill et al., 2010: International Review of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 3(1), 24-39). Indeed, through the growing number of choking studies that have employed idiographic approaches, an enhanced understanding of choking has been offered. Nevertheless, the need for further qualitative choking research remains. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine choking in sport through qualitative methods and to explore specifically, the cognitions, emotions, and ineffective coping strategies experienced by elite athletes during their choking experience. Methods: Following ethical approval, semi-structured interviews were conducted with four international figure skaters (3 female and 1 male; aged between 18 and 34), who had experienced choking regularly during the previous season. Each interview examined at length the participant’s cognitions, emotions, and ineffective coping strategies associated with their choking episodes. The interviews were subsequently transcribed verbatim and the data were analysed via inductive content analysis. Trustworthiness of the data was enhanced by allowing the participants to verify the transcripts and emergent themes. Results: The results of the study indicated that the participants’ main sources of stress were related to organisational demands, such as competition and training environments, accommodation, and external expectations. Immediately prior to, and during a choke, the participants recalled having several negative and distracting cognitions, including self-doubt, worry, and self-presentational concerns. Moreover, they also experienced negatively toned emotions, such as debilitative anxiety, disorientation, frustration, and panic. A variety of ineffective efforts to cope were also reported, such as physical and psychological disengagement, social support, and venting. Discussion: The results of this study offer support for the distraction models of choking, and the recent work of Gucciardi et al. (2010: Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 32(1), 61-83) who identified that high levels of debilitative cognitive anxiety and self-presentational concerns play a critical role in the choking process. Conclusion: The results suggest that practitioners should encourage their athletes to develop effective coping strategies, which particularly enable the effective management of debilitative anxiety and self-presentational concerns. Although it is not possible to eliminate all of the organisational demands placed on elite athletes, this study has highlighted the importance of alleviating organisational stress where possible, including the provision of high quality training and competitive environments

The Effects of a Cognitive-Behavioral Intervention on a Sport Performer’s Appraisals of Organizational Stressors

The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of a cognitive-behavioral based intervention on appraisals of organizational stressors in a sport performer who typically experienced threat or loss appraisals. In addition, this study aimed to evaluate whether changes in the performer’s appraisals contributed to desirable changes in emotions and subjective performance satisfaction. A case study research design was adopted. One high-level field hockey player participated in the intervention, which consisted of four phases that were conducted over a period of 26 weeks. Phase I included rapport-building and observation, Phase II involved baseline monitoring of appraisals, emotions, and subjective performance satisfaction, Phase III included the education and acquisition of a cognitive restructuring technique, and Phase IV entailed the integration of the technique within actual sport performance. A three months post-intervention follow-up was conducted to assess the participant’s retention of the intervention effects. Reduced threat and loss appraisals and elevated challenge appraisals were observed immediately after Phase III had been introduced. In addition, pleasant emotions increased and unpleasant emotions were reduced. Subjective performance satisfaction increased throughout the intervention. Social validation immediately post-intervention and at the end of the follow-up phase indicated adaptive changes in each of the outcome variables. To conclude, challenge appraisals and pleasant emotions appear to be linked with increased subjective performance satisfaction. Cognitive restructuring represents a promising technique for improving high-level athletes’ appraisals and thus, sport psychologists should examine the effectiveness and efficacy of this technique with other populations in order to develop a robust evidence base for appraisal optimization in sport

Getting to the heart of the matter: a diary study of swimmers' appraisals of organisational stressors.

We explored sport performers' cognitive appraisals of organisational stressors. The relevant demands and transactional alternatives that athletes experience in relation to the situational properties were identified. Thirteen national standard swimmers completed semi-structured, interval-contingent daily diaries for a 28-day period. A combination of inductive and deductive content analysis was used to organise and analyse the diary entries with a focus on the following areas: organisational stressors, their underlying situational properties, and the swimmers' transactional alternatives. One hundred and thirty-one of the organisational stressors were appraised as threat, 41 as challenge, and 83 as harm/loss. Support was found for the majority of Lazarus and Folkman's (1984) situational properties with the only exception being temporal uncertainty. Imminence was associated with the greatest number of threat appraisals (47), novelty was associated with the greatest number of challenge appraisals (17), and duration was associated with the greatest number of harm/loss appraisals (22). It is concluded that appraisal plays a pivotal role in sport performers' experiences of their organisational environment. Swimmers' transactional alternatives are influenced by the situational properties of the stressors encountered

Stressors and Coping among Voluntary Sports Coaches

Background: Sports coaching has been identified as a naturally stressful occupation. Coaches must be able to competently and effectively manage stress that is inherent in competitive sport and perform under pressure. Yet, limited research exists that has explored coaches’ experiences of psychological stress. The research that does exist has mainly focused on full-time, elite coaches who represent just 3% of the coaching workforce in the United Kingdom (U.K.). Despite the voluntary coaching workforce contributing to 72% of the total U.K. coaching personnel, little is known about the stressors that volunteer coaches experience or the ways in which they cope with these stressors. Purpose: To explore the stressors that voluntary coaches experience and the coping strategies that they use. Methods: Following institutional ethical approval, four (Mage = 38.5±11.68 years) voluntary coaches were interviewed using a semi-structured interview guide. Each interview was conducted face-to-face and lasted between 56.44 and 84.25 minutes (Mduration= 66.95±12.19 minutes). Rich, in-depth data was collected during the interviews, which provided a thick description of knowledge. Thematic analysis was used to organise and analyse the data. To ensure the study has rigor and provides a significant contribution to the literature, self-reflexivity was used by the primary researcher throughout. Results: The coaches reported 28 different stressors, which were categorised into four higher-order themes: personal, athlete-related, organisational, and external/uncontrollable. Thirty nine different coping strategies were discussed, which were categorised into two higher-order themes: problem-focused and emotion-focused coping. Overall, the stressors and coping strategies reported by the voluntary coaches in this study were similar to those reported in previous literature by paid coaches. Conclusion: This research represents some of the first to explore voluntary coaches’ experiences of stressors and coping strategies. Further research is warranted to explore voluntary coaches’ motivation to continue their engagement, despite the stressors they experience. The findings of this study may be of interest to national governing bodies and coaches who are at the forefront of the coaching sector

A review of stress appraising in sport performers: Where are we now and where do we go from here?

RELATED THEME: Psychology for performance BACKGROUND: According to transactional stress theory and sport psychology research, appraising is an important component of athletes’ stress transactions. This is because appraisals provide the basis for various psychological, physiological, emotional, and behavioural outcomes. Thus, a review of the sport psychology literature that focuses on appraising is required to facilitate a greater understanding of performers’ stress transactions. PURPOSE: The purpose of this review was to critically examine the sport psychology research on appraising. In addition, the review aimed to draw on occupational, organizational, and general psychology research to explore four main areas: 1) appraising in stress transactions, 2) situational factors that influence appraising, 3) person factors that influence appraising, and 4) the notion of reappraisal. METHOD: A thorough search of the literature was conducted to identify relevant studies. All of the studies were rigorously examined. KEY POINTS: Understanding appraising is central to understanding stress transactions. However, little is known about appraising in sport and, in particular, the situational and personal factors that influence this process. The research does, however, suggest that situational clarity and mental toughness may help to prevent potential negative outcomes of stress transactions. CONCLUSIONS: This review has enhanced understanding of performers’ stress transactions and identified gaps in the empirical literature. A substantial research agenda that addresses these gaps needs to be conducted before practical recommendations can be made. Non-sport research should be used to work toward a better understanding of the factors that influence athletes’ appraisals and the impact of these appraisals on sport performance

Career transitions and occupational well-being of women in leadership: The case of women as sports coaches

Introduction: The United Kingdom (U.K.) is working to develop the world’s leading sports coaching system. However, women currently make up only 28% of the profession and very few reach senior levels. Little is known about why career pathways are gendered or how women coaches’ occupational experiences affect their health and well-being. Therefore, the aim of this study was to further understanding of the occupational health and well-being of female sports coaches and to investigate the facilitators of and barriers to their careers and life transitions. Method: Following institutional ethical approval, women coaches (n = 162) based in the U.K. volunteered to take part. Each coach completed an online version of the Shortened Stress Evaluation Tool (ASSET; Cartwright & Cooper, 2002). This questionnaire is a valid and reliable measure of job characteristics, organisational commitment, health, and psychological well-being. Descriptive statistics were computed using a Statistical Package for the Social Sciences to provide a broad overview of the data. Results: 97% of the sample categorised themselves as ‘White’, ‘White Irish’, or ‘White Other;’ that the number of respondents over the age of 55 (n = 6) was dramatically lower than the number of responses from younger coaches (n = 156); and that 67% of the sample was educated to undergraduate degree level or higher. Over half of the sample (53%) was employed as a head coach at the time of completion and 56% of these head coaches were employed on a part-time basis. When compared to the normative data for ASSET, our sample reported above average psychological well-being (M = 27.75, SD = 4.87), sense of purpose (M = 18.72, SD = 4.01), and engagement (M = 19.18, SD = 3.78), and reported less strain on their psychological health (M = 21.06, SD = 6.91). However, the results also demonstrate that the coaches experience poorer work-life balance (M = 13.33, SD = 5.35), job security (M = 14.20, SD = 5.39), and work relationships (M = 18.02, SD = 7.88) than the normative sample. Conclusions: The findings suggest that, on average, our sample of women coaches are highly engaged with their role, feel a sense of purpose during their coaching practice, and are psychologically well. The results do, however, suggest that women coaches require better work-life balance, more job security, and more meaningful relationships with their colleagues. These findings provide insight to potential facilitators of and barriers to career progression for women coaches and offer interesting applied implications for national governing bodies (NGBs). In particular, NGBs should pay acute attention to interventions that support women coaches to connect with other coaches and effectively balance their personal and occupational commitments