1 research outputs found
Coping strategies and perceiving stress among athletes during different waves of the COVID-19 PandemicâData from Poland, Romania, and Slovakia
Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), an infectious disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, has affected numerous aspects of human functioning. Social contacts, work, education, travel, and sports have drastically changed during the lockdown periods. The pandemic restrictions have severely limited professional athletesâ ability to train and participate in competitions. For many who rely on sports as their main source of income, this represents a source of intense stress. To assess the dynamics of perceived stress as well as coping strategies during different waves of the COVID-19 pandemic, we carried out a longitudinal study using the Perception of Stress Questionnaire and the Brief COPE on a sample of 2020 professional athletes in Poland, Romania, and Slovakia. The results revealed that in all three countries, the highest intrapsychic stress levels were reported during the fourth wave (all, p < 0.01) and the highest external stress levels were reported before the pandemic (p < 0.05). To analyze the data, analyses of variance were carried out using Tukeyâs post hoc test and η2 for effect size. Further, emotional tension was the highest among Polish and Slovak athletes in the fourth wave, while the highest among Romanian athletes was in the pre-pandemic period. The coping strategies used by the athletes in the fourth wave were more dysfunctional than during the first wave (independent t test and Cohenâs d were used). The dynamics of the coping strategiesâemotion focused and problem focusedâwere also discussed among Polish, Romanian, and Slovak athletes. Coaches and sports psychologists can modify the athletesâ perceived stress while simultaneously promoting effective coping strategies.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio