The purpose of the present study was to identify the meanings of stress, the stressors, experienced, the coping strategies used, and the development of coping strategies by female adolescent team sport athletes. The research questions are: (a) What does stress mean to female adolescent athletes? (b) What everyday or ambient stressors do female adolescent athletes encounter in sport and in their daily lives? (c) What coping strategies do female adolescent athletes use when faced with ambient stressors in their sporting context and in their everyday lives? and (d) How did the athletes develop these coping strategies? With respect to the first research question, results showed that athletes in the present study stated that stress held a variety of meanings for them. They cited examples of being stressed in situations where they were nervous, anxious or worried, but noted that they also became stressed in situations where they were frustrated, upset or angry. Thus, the present study supports the need for researchers to move away from defining stress for their athlete participants and instead examining the athletes' own perceptions of stress (i.e., in their own words). The five athletes experienced a range of stressors related to soccer competition as well as from sport stressors considered to fall outside of the competitive arena. The athletes were found to also experience stress in their lives outside of sport. The fact that the athletes experienced significant stress due to their participation in a team sport context is a unique finding and makes a significant contribution to the literature. Furthermore, the finding that many of the team dynamic issues were especially stressful for the three athletes in leadership roles is an interesting finding and one that warrants further investigation. The athletes used behavioral control strategies, task focus strategies, thought control strategies and emotional release strategies when dealing with stress. The use of emotional release strategies appears to be a relatively new finding and makes a unique contribution to the literature. Interestingly, emotional control strategies such as visualization or imagery and other relaxation techniques were important strategies for only one athlete. The question regarding the development of coping strategies provided information related to the origin of coping strategies, but not the process used in their development. The present study makes a contribution, however, by providing insight into the people thought to be important influences in coping strategy development. Parents, coaches and friends were cited as influential models and as the people with whom athletes shared learning experiences. Thus, future research could focus on the impact of these significant others when investigating the development of coping strategies. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:uottawa.ca/oai:ruor.uottawa.ca:10393/9070 |
| Date | January 2000 |
| Creators | Gilbert, Jenelle N. |
| Contributors | Morawski, Cynthia, |
| Publisher | University of Ottawa (Canada) |
| Source Sets | Université d’Ottawa |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | 330 p. |
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