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ESS3808Sport Psychology
Martin I. JonesBSc MSc Phd PGCHE CPsychol CSci AFBPsS SFHEA
Stress and Coping
What is stress and Why should I be interested in stress?
Quality of experience, produced through a person-environment transaction, that through over- or under-arousal, results in psychological or physiological distress
Aldwin (1994)
The non-specific result of any demand upon the body, be the effect mental or somatic
(Hans Seyle)
Exhaustion
Resistance
Dr Hans Seyle’s General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS, 1956)
Adaptation
TIME
overload specificity individual differences reversibility
A relationship between a person and the environment that is appraised by the person as taxing or exceeding his or her resources and endangering his/her well-being
Lazarus & Folkman (1984)
Acute stressSudden, typically short-lived, threatening event
Emotion?
Chronic stressOngoing environmental demand (e.g., marital conflict, work stress, personality)
Increased stress could cause
illness and injury
Prolonged stress could contribute
to burnout syndrome
Stress leads to fatigue
Unnecessary muscle activityBracing
Inhibited coordination
Broadly speaking, stress disrupts performanceParticularly true in fine motor control and decision rich tasks
Eustress is a positive stressful experience, a state of physical and psychological well-being that is associated with increased motivation and the acceptance of a challenge.
Stress can result from being over- or under-stimulated
Too little stress can be as harmful as too much
Normal and hard
wired
What is pressure?
Circumstances that increase the importance of good or improved performance (or avoiding poor performance)
Baumeister (1984)Italics added by me
Baumeister & Showers (1986), competitive pressure is caused by a range of factors
Performance-contingent rewards (e.g., trophies) and punishments (e.g., job loss)
Audience and social evaluation (e.g., being watched by spectators and judged/evaluated by others like the media)
Social comparison (e.g., feeling like your performance will be compared with others)
Ego relevance (i.e., when the situation is important for someone’s self-esteem or self-worth)
Perceived pressure (i.e. stress appraisal) can have different effects on athletes
Some athletes respond negatively and perform poorly
An acute and considerable decrease in skill execution and performance when self-expected standards are normally achievable, which is the result of increased anxiety under perceived pressure
(Mesagno & Hill, 2014)Questionable?
Others respond positively and perform well
Clutch PerformanceAny performance increment or superior performance that occurs under pressurized circumstances
Otten, 2009
Appraisal of pressure (stress) is variable
For every example of an athlete who coped well with high pressure competition, there’s an example of someone who did not
Start Finish
Break time
10 minutes 8 minutes 1 minute9 minutes 5 minutes6 minutes7 minutes 2 minutes4 minutes3 minutes
Time is up!
Performance StressStress is a person's response to a cue such as an environmental condition or a stimulus. The stress process is the appraisal
of a stressor and activation of the sympathetic nervous system
fight-or-flight response
Produced through a person-environment transaction
Cognitive Transactional ModelLazarus & Folkman (1984)
Why do some soldiers handle battle better than others?
KEY POINT 1The interpretation of stressful events is more important than the events themselves
KEY POINT 2It is neither the environmental event nor the person’s response that defines stress
KEY POINT 3It is the individual’s perception of the psychological situation that defines stress
KEY POINT 4Stress is a function of the person’s feeling of threat, vulnerability, and ability to cope rather than a function of the stressor
KEY POINT 5Distinguishes three kinds of appraisal
KEY POINT 6Appraisal is not always at the level of consciousness.
Primary appraisalIrrelevantBenign-positiveStressful
Harm/lossThreatChallenge
IrrelevantThe event has no implication for the individual’s well-being
Benign-positiveThe event may increase well-being
StressfulThe situation is perceived as harmful, threatening, or challenging
Harm/lossInvolves actual significant physical or psychological loss
Psychological damage that has already been done
ThreatThe anticipation of harm or lossAllows to anticipate and prepare for the future
ChallengeThe event is perceived as stressful
The focus is on positive excitement
Refers to the person’s confidence in overcoming difficult demands
Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: The last of human freedoms – to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.
(Victor Frankl, 1985)
Secondary AppraisalConcerned with a person’s evaluation of his/her ability to cope with the situation
Which coping options are available
What is the likelihood that one can apply the strategy
What is the likelihood that any given options will work: will it reduce stress
?
ReappraisalContinuous Reappraisal On The Basis Of New Information
Identical To The Initial Process
May Lead To More Stress
CopingConstantly changing cognitive and behavioural efforts to manage specific internal and/or external demands that are appraised as taxing or exceeding the resources of the person
Lazarus and Folkman (1984)
CopingCoping is a process of constant evaluation of the success of one’s strategies
CopingCoping is learned as one encounters situations
CopingCoping requires effort
CopingCoping is an effort to manage
CopingSuccess is not contingent on mastery - just good enough
When we cannot change the situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.
(Victor Frankl, 1985)
In the mainstream psychological literature, it has been shown that personality predicts appraisal and coping efforts in the health domain when dealing with a variety of stressful contexts
(O’Brien & DeLongis, 1996)
The ability to cope is enhanced when people believe they can successfully bring about desired consequences
Self-Efficacy“people’s judgements of their capabilities to organise and execute courses of action”
Bandura (1977, 1986, 1997)
Masteryexperiences
Verbal persuasion
Vicarious experiences
Physiologicaland affective
states
COGNITIONGoals
AttributionsDecisions
Problem solving
BEHAVIOURChoice /selection
EffortPersistence
AFFECTAnxietyArousal
DepressionConfidence
Flow
Efficacybeliefs
Problem-Focussed Coping
Changing the situation
Redefining the problem
Looking at alternative solutions
Evaluating the implications of the alternatives
Choosing the best one to act on
Athletes have reported using a variety of problem focused strategies in response to stressors encountered.
Approach-cognitive strategies (Anshel, 2001), Being aware of cues (Dale, 2000), Task-orientated coping (Amiot, Gaudreau, & Blanchard, 2004), Concentrating on goals (Gould et al., 1993a),Time management (Gould et al., 1993a), Learning about opponents (Holt, 2003), Practice (Holt & Mandigo, 2004), Appropriate training (Park, 2000).
Emotion-focussed coping
Controlling and possibly changing the emotional response to an event
Cognitive responses such as avoidance or minimization
The goal is to decrease emotional distress
Often used when the individual feels that nothing can be done about the situation
Athletes have reported using a variety of emotion focused strategies in response to stressors encountered.
Seeking social support (Crocker, 1992; Park, 2000),Imaging/ visualizing (Dale, 2000; Gould et al., 1993a), Venting unpleasant emotions (Gaudreau & Blondin, 2002), Humour (Giacobbi, Foore, & Weinberg, 2004), Remaining confident (Poczwardowski & Conroy, 2002).
Avoidance CopingBehavioural (e.g., physically removing self fromstressor)
Cognitive (e.g. blocking) avoidance ofa stressor
(Anshel, 2001)
Emotion-focused and avoidance coping tend to experience greater cognitive anxiety
(Hammermeister & Burton, 2001; Ntoumanis & Biddle, 2000).
Coping effectiveness Coping effectiveness in a sport setting refers to the extent to which a coping strategy, or combination of strategies, is successful in alleviating the negative emotions caused by stress
Problem-focused coping will be more effective during encounters in which the athlete has the potential for personal control
Emotion-focused coping has been proposed as being more effective during encounters in which the athlete has very little control
Do athletes have coping styles or is coping dynamic based upon appraisal and previous coping attempts?
The majority of research in sport suggests that coping is both recursive and dynamic and thus supports the transactional perspective
(e.g., Anshel, 1996; Anshel et al., 2001; Gould et al., 1993a,b; Holt & Hogg, 2002; Poczwardowski & Conroy, 2002).
The Physiology of StressNervous system
Endocrine system
Central nervous system is made ofBrainSpinal cord
Peripheral nervous system is made ofSomatic nervous system
Receives information from the sensory organsControls movements of the skeletal muscles
Autonomic nervous system (ANS)Primarily serves internal organs
Sympathetic Response to Stress
The autonomic nervous system (ANS) is the part of the peripheral nervous
system that acts as a control system that functions
largely below the level of consciousness
to control visceral functions (e.g., heart rate, respiratory rate, pupillary dilation,
swallowing)
Hypothalamus increases arousal in
the sympathetic nervous system
Parasympathetic Response to Stress
Re-establishes homeostasis in the systemReconstructive process following stressful experienceSlows the heart rate & decreases blood pressureDecreases muscle tensionSlows respirationNeutralizes fight or flight response
Endocrine Responses to StressHypothalamus – pituitary – adrenal cortex - adrenal medulla
Hypothalamus causes:The pituitary gland to secrete adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) that stimulates the adrenal cortex (the outer covering of the adrenal gland)
Sympathetic fibers to directly activate the adrenal medulla (The inner part of the adrenal gland)
The endocrine system consists of ductless glands distributed throughout the body
The neuroendocrine system is made of those endocrine glands that are controlled by the nervous system
Glands of the endocrine and neuroendocrine systems secrete chemicals called hormones
Hormones move into the blood stream to be carried throughout the body
Specialized receptors on target tissues or organs allow hormones to have specific effects even though they circulate throughout the body
Biopsychosocial Model
Motivated Performance Situation
Demand and Resource Evaluations
Resources ≥ Demands Demands > Resources
Challenge Threat
Psychological Processes
Adapted from Seery (2011)
Danger, Familiarity, Effort, Skills, Abilities, Knowledge, Support
BPSM
Applies to motivated performance situations, contexts in which individuals must actively perform instrumental responses (either cognitive or physical or both) to attain an important and self-relevant goal.
Applies to MOTIVATED PERFORMANCE situations, contexts in which individuals must actively perform instrumental responses (either cognitive or physical or both) to attain an important and self-relevant goal.
Meaningful consequences
How is this different to Lazarus and Folkman’s theory of appraisal?What's added and what’s missing?
The BPSM contends that how individuals perform in these situations is determined by a series of psychological processes that lead to distinct physiological responses
Is demand and response evaluation at the conscious level?
Endocrine Responses to Stress
Adrenomedullary Response – SAMActivation of sympathetic-adrenal medulla (SAM) complex
Adrenal medulla secretes the catecholamines: Epinephrine & Norepinephrine
SAM complexIncreased heart rate, blood pressure,
Breathing rate & blood glucose levels
Shuts down digestive system
Rapid, short-lived response to stress
Adrenocortical Response – HPAHypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) cortex complex
PACPituitary adrenocortical axes
Adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH)ACTH stimulates the adrenal cortex to secrete glucocorticoids and mineralocorticoids
GlucocorticoidsProtein and fat get metabolized into glucoseReduce inflammation, suppress immune cells
Mineralocorticoids
Blood volume and pressure increase
Challenge
SAM Activation
Catecholamine Release
Increased HRDecreased TPRIncreased CO
Physiological Responses
Threat
SAM and PAC Activation
Cortisol Release
Increased HRNo Change/Increased TPRNo Change/Decreased CO
Both states involve sympathetic-adrenomedullary activation causing the release of catecholamines (hormones like adrenaline).
Threat state also causes pituitary-adrenocortical activation causing the release of cortisol
Attenuation of SAM complex
A challenge state is associated with a short-lived spike of energy due to catecholamines that enter the blood stream with a half life of only a few minutes
A threat state causes a slow and more prolonged release of energy, because cortisol enters the bloodstream slowly and has a half life of over an hour
Implications for research design?
Challenge
Approach Motivation
Good Task Performance
Threat
Avoidance Motivation
Poor Task Performance
Fight, flight, freeze?
Which are challenge, which are threat?
Jones et al. (2009)
Athletes will experiences a challenge state if their resources appraisals comprise high self efficacy, perception of control, and are focussed on approach goals.
Athletes will experience a threat state if their resource appraisals comprise low self efficacy, low perceived control, and are focussed on avoidance goals.
Jones et al. (2009)
A challenge state will typically, but not exclusively, be associated with emotions of a positive valence (e.g. excitement)
A threat state will typically, but not exclusively, be associated with emotions of a negative valence (e.g. anxiety)
Emotions experienced during challenge states will be perceived as helpful to performance
Emotions experienced during a threat state will be perceived as unhelpful to performance
Jones et al. (2009)
In a challenge state anxiety will not lead to reinvestment
In a threat state anxiety will decrease the efficiency and effectiveness of cognitive functioning
Jones et al. (2009)
A challenge state will have a positive influence on decision making
A threat state will be associated with less engagement in the competition (e.g. seeking out possession) as an athletes uses avoidance strategies
Moore et al. (2013)Aim
Examined relationship between challenge/threat and ‘real’ competitive performance
Method199 golfers (M handicap = 9.15; SD = 8.13)Prior to competition, golfers reported demand and resource evaluationsAfter the competition, objective measure of performance assessed (golf performance index)
ResultsBivariate regression analysis revealed that demand/resource evaluations made immediately before the competition accounted for a significant proportion of variance in golf performance index (R2 = .08, β = .29, p < .001)
Turner et al. (2013)
AimAssessed if CV markers of challenge/threat predicted batting performance
Method42 elite and national academy cricketers (M Age = 16.45 years; SD = 1.38 years)Recorded CV reactivity to ego-threatening audio instructionsCompleted a batting test under pressure (30 deliveries to score 36 runs)
ResultsChallenge and threat index accounted for a significant proportion of variance in total run scored (R2 = .41, p < .001)
Martin I. JonesBSc MSc PhD CPsychol CSci AFBPsS SFHEA
m.i.jones@exeter.ac.uk@drmijones
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