Assessing lifetime stressor exposure in sport performers: Associations with trait stress appraisals, health, well-being, and performance

Ella McLoughlin, Rachel Arnold, David Fletcher, Chandler M. Spahr, George M. Slavich, Lee J. Moore

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Abstract

Research has found that greater lifetime stressor exposure increases the risk for mental and physical health problems. Despite this, few studies have examined how stressors occurring over the entire lifespan affect sport performers’ health, well-being, and performance, partly due to the difficulty of assessing lifetime stressor exposure. To address this issue, we developed a sport-specific stress assessment module (Sport SAM) for the Stress and Adversity Inventory (STRAIN) and then analyzed the instrument's usability, acceptability, validity, and test-retest reliability. Furthermore, we examined whether trait-like tendencies to appraise stressful situations as a challenge or threat mediated the association between lifetime stressor exposure and health, well-being, and performance. Participants were 395 sport performers (Mage = 22.50 years, SD = 5.33) who completed an online survey. Results revealed that the Sport SAM demonstrated good usability and acceptability, good concurrent validity in relation to the Adult STRAIN (rs = 0.23 to 0.29), and very good test-retest reliability (ricc = 0.87 to 0.89). Furthermore, the Sport SAM was significantly associated with symptoms of depression (β = 0.21 to 0.24, ps ≤ .001) and anxiety (β = 0.13 to 0.19, ps ≤ .012), and general physical (β = 0.24 to 0.27, ps = ≤ 0.001) and mental (β = 0.23 to 0.32, p ≤ .001) health complaints. Finally, we found that associations between total lifetime non-sport and sport-specific stressor severity and health were mediated by trait stress appraisals. Consequently, these findings may help practitioners better identify sport performers who are at risk of developing stress-related health problems.

Original languageEnglish
Article number102078
JournalPsychology of Sport and Exercise
Volume58
Early online date6 Oct 2021
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 31 Jan 2022

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
As a result of these strengths, this study has some important theoretical and applied implications. From a theoretical perspective, the findings support the predictions of the integrative model of lifespan stress and health by highlighting which stressors (i.e., chronic difficulties, adulthood stressors) are particularly harmful for sport performers? health, well-being, and performance, as well as improving our understanding of how stressor exposure over the lifespan influences sport performers? general tendencies to appraise stressful situations as a challenge or threat (Epel et al., 2018). Furthermore, this study supports the predictions of the BPSM (Blascovich, 2008b), illustrating that threat appraisals, when frequently experienced, may influence important outcomes beyond sports performance, including health and well-being. As a result, we believe these findings can help guide practitioners in developing interventions designed to mitigate the negative effects of lifetime stressor exposure.GMS was supported by a Society in Science?Branco Weiss Fellowship, NARSAD Young Investigator Grant #23958 from the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation, and National Institutes of Health grant K08 MH103443.

Funding Information:
GMS was supported by a Society in Science—Branco Weiss Fellowship, NARSAD Young Investigator Grant #23958 from the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation , and National Institutes of Health grant K08 MH103443 .

Keywords

  • Adversity
  • Allostatic load
  • Assessment
  • Challenge and threat
  • Stressors

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Applied Psychology

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