Adaptation, stress, and coping in sport

Adaptation, which was mentioned within the domain of stress and coping research by Lazarus (1991), refers to the way in which people change according to the world that they live in. Within the context of stress, adaptation can be defined as the way a person reacts to and copes with stresses that change across the lifespan. Lazarus argued that it is not possible to examine constructs such as stress and coping without viewing how people adapt in their lives. As such, it was argued that understanding and considering human thought is crucial. This argument shaped Lazarus’ relational approach to measuring stress and coping. In this chapter, I outline the relational approach to stress and coping, which is the dominant theoretical framework in the sport literature (Nicholls, Perry, & Calmeiro, 2014). I also consider sport specific research in regards to stressors, appraisals, qualitative coping research, and quantitative research. The chapter is concluded with ideas regarding how the field of stress and coping can be advanced

An online educational tool to promote psychological well-being, optimism, and coping self-efficacy among people living with an ileostomy : a pilot study

We assessed an online educational tool designed for people living with an ileostomy. Thirty-nine participants took part in a 10-week online educational tool, which included elements such as happiness profiling, understanding stress and coping, utilising social support, mindfulness skills, and emotional intelligence training. Participants completed questionnaires to assess the effects of the online educational tool on well-being, optimism, and coping self-efficacy at Time 1 (baseline), Time 2 (after the intervention), and Time 3 (three months after completing the online educational tool). Psychological well-being, optimism, use of problem-focused coping self-efficacy, and stop unpleasant emotions and thoughts coping self-efficacy were significantly higher, with large effect sizes, at both Time 2 and Time 3, than Time 1. The online educational tool appears to be a promising time and cost effective method of promoting positive outcomes, although additional testing is required before it could be used in conjunction with existing healthcare treatment

Perceptions of coach-athlete relationship are more important to coaches than athletes in predicting dyadic coping and stress appraisals: An actor-partner independence mediation model

Most attempts to manage stress involve at least one other person, yet coping studies in sport tend to report an athlete’s individual coping strategies. There is a limited understanding of coping involving other people, particularly within sport, despite athletes potentially spending a lot of time with other people, such as their coach. Guided by the systemic-transactional model of stress and coping among couples (Bodenmann, 1995), from relationship psychology, we assessed dyadic coping, perceptions of relationship quality, and primary stress appraisals of challenge and threat among 158 coach–athlete dyads (n D 277 participants). The athletes competed at amateur (n D 123), semiprofessional (n D 31), or professional levels (n D 4). Coaches and athletes from the same dyad completed a measure of dyadic coping, coach–athlete relationship, and stress appraisals. We tested an Actor–Partner Interdependence Mediation Model to account for the non-independence of dyadic data. These actor–partner analyses revealed differences between athletes and coaches. Although the actor effects were relatively large compared to partner effects, perceptions of relationship quality demonstrated little impact on athletes. The mediating role of relationship quality was broadly as important as dyadic coping for coaches. These findings provide an insight in to how coach–athlete dyads interact to manage stress and indicate that relationship quality is of particular importance for coaches, but less important for athletes. In order to improve perceptions of relationship quality among coaches and athletes, interventions could be developed to foster positive dyadic coping among both coaches and athletes, which may also impact upon stress appraisals of challenge and threat

Evaluation of an online educational tool designed to reduce stress and boost well-being for people living with an ileostomy : a framework analysis

Ileostomies, in which the small intestine is re-directed out of a stoma in the stomach so that waste is collected using a bag, are using to treat conditions such as bowel cancer and Inflammatory Bowel Disease. Previous research has shown that life with an ileostomy can be challenging. In our own previous work, we piloted an Online Educational Tool (OET) designed to reduce stress and boost well-being in people living with an ileostomy. The current study utilised the qual-itative method framework analysis in order to evaluate the effectiveness of our OET. We asked nine OET users questions about their experience of using the tool and the impact it may have had on their lives. Feedback was generally positive. Participants described facilitators and barriers for remaining engaged, and discussed a wide range of elements which were successful or unsuccessful. Stress levels were generally reduced and well-being boosted; participants gave examples of how this played out for them. Feelings about whether the impact of the tool would last were mixed. There was one participant who felt the tool was not inclusive enough and too repetitive. Findings from this study add weight to previous findings that the OET was successful in its aims

Precompetitive achievement goals, stress appraisals, emotions, and coping among athletes

Grounded in Lazarus’ (1991, 1999, 2000) Cognitive-Motivational-Relational theory of emotions, we tested a model of achievement goals, stress appraisals, emotions, and coping. We predicted that pre-competitive achievement goals would be associated with appraisals; appraisals with emotions; and emotions with coping in our model. The mediating effects of emotions among the overall sample of 827 athletes and two stratified random sub-samples were also explored. The results of this study support our proposed model in the overall sample and the stratified sub-samples. Further, emotion mediated the relationship between appraisal and coping. Mediation analyses revealed that there were indirect effects of pleasant and unpleasant emotions, which indicates the importance of examining multiple emotions to reveal a more accurate representation of the overall stress process. Our findings indicate that both appraisals and emotions are just as important in shaping coping

Coaching the coaches: Coping effectiveness training for super league academy managers

Playing sport at any level can be stressful, especially for high-level adolescent rugby league players who are hoping to forge a career in their sport. These athletes could potentially experience stressors of playing for their academy side, loan team, and first team. In this article I provide a summary of a presentation I gave to rugby league academy and assistant academy managers from each super league club within the United Kingdom and France. I also explain elements of the presentation and the rationale for the inclusion of content

Stress and coping among high-level adolescent golfers

The overall purpose of this research programme was to examine how international adolescent golfers cope with performance related stressors. As such, three interrelated studies were designed to pursue this purpose.The purpose of Study 1 was to examine instances when international adolescent golfers' coped effectively and ineffectively with performance-related stressors during competition. Strategies associated with effective coping were rationalizing, re-appraising, blocking, positive self-talk, following a routine, breathing exercises, physical relaxation, and seeking on-course social support. Alternatively, different types of coping responses (trying too hard, speeding up, routine changes, negative thoughts, lack of coping) were associated with ineffective coping.The purpose of Study 2 was to examine stressors, coping strategies, and perceived coping effectiveness among elite adolescent golfers longitudinally over 31 days. Overall, most frequently-cited stressors were making a physical error and making a mental error. Coping strategies that served a problem-focused coping function were cited more often than those which served an emotion-focused or avoidance function. Although mean coping effectiveness remained stable over time, considerable fluctuations in the effectiveness of coping strategies used to manage specific stressors were observed.The purpose of study 3 was to identify and examine adolescent golfers' stress appraisals and coping attempts during golf performance. Stress appraisals appeared to be related to the participants' performance goals, and an array of different coping attempts was deployed to manage apparently similar stressor-appraisalsThe findings presented in this research programme suggest that adolescent golfers use a plethora of different coping strategies during golf to cope with performance related stressors. The types of coping strategies utilised by the participants were very similar throughout all three of the studies ranging fromblocking to positive appraisal

The development of a new sport-specific classification of coping and a meta-analysis of the relationship between different coping strategies and moderators on sporting outcomes

There is an ever growing coping and sports performance literature, with researchers using many different methods to assess performance and different classifications of coping. As such, it makes it difficult to compare studies and therefore identify how coping is related to performance. Furthermore, there are no quantitative syntheses of the results from these studies. A quantitative synthesis would facilitate a more comprehensive understanding of how coping is associated with athletic performance. In order to accurately compare studies, our first aim was to develop a new coping classification that would make this possible. Firstly, we reviewed the strengths and limitations of the different coping classifications and then identified the commonalities and differences between such classifications. We opted for a three-factor classification of coping, because the evidence suggests that a three-factor classification provides a superior model fit to two-factor approaches. Our new classification of coping was based on an existing model from the developmental literature, which received an excellent model fit. We made some adaptations, however, as our classification was intended for an athletic population. As such, we classified coping as mastery (i.e., controlling the situation and eliminating the stressor), internal regulation (i.e., managing internal stress responses), or goal withdrawal (i.e., ceasing efforts towards goal attainment). Undertaking a meta-analysis, our second aim was to identify which coping strategies correlated with sports performance and whether this relationship varied according to moderator variables. Articles were sourced from online electronic databases and manual journal searches. PRISMA guidelines were used to search, select, and synthesize relevant studies. Random effects meta-analyses were performed to identify associations between coping classification and sport performance. Q, I2, and R2 values assessed heterogeneity. Eighteen published investigations, including 3900 participants and incorporating fifty-nine correlations, indicated an overall positive effect for mastery coping, a negligible negative effect for internal regulation coping, and a negative effect for goal withdrawal strategies. The findings of this meta-analysis could be used by sports practitioners to help them deliver effective coping interventions. In order to maximize performance, practitioners could encourage the use of mastery coping, but advise their athletes not to use goal withdrawal strategies

The psychological challenges of living with an ileostomy: an interpretative phenomenological analysis

Objectives: Ileostomy, in which the small intestine is re-directed out of an abdominal wall so that waste is collected using a bag, is used to treat conditions including Inflammatory Bowel Disease and colorectal cancer. This paper reports an in depth idiographic analysis of the experience of living with an ileostomy. Methods: 21 participants took part in semi-structured interviews about their lives and relationships. Those interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed using the experiential qualitative methodology Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Results: Two super-ordinate themes arose from the data: Ileostomy’s intra-personal impact; the impact of ileostomy on relationships with others. We found that ileostomy may destabilise the sense of self, disrupt body image, and alter experience of age and sexuality. Other participants were able to employ their illness to positively reframe the self. Disclosure of ileostomy status was difficult for some. Intimate and friend relationships were often challenged by stoma status, whilst other family relationships were largely characterised as supportive. Conclusions: Ileostomy may impact upon both intra and interpersonal aspects of the lives of those who live with it, in both negative and positive ways. Consequently, the sense of self can appear challenged, and relationships with partners, family members and friendships could be causes of distress. On the other hand, some partners were supportive, and children were found to be sources of comfort