Findings

1. Performance Anxiety

• One of the most-common psychological/emotional stressors experienced by athletes as a result of competing/training is performance anxiety.
• As its name implies, performance anxiety involves athletes worrying about how well they will do during competition.
• Performance anxiety is very common among professional athletes, as approximately 50% of them suffer from it.
• The prevalence of performance anxiety has been sharply rising, as its prevalence was just about 10% two decades ago.
• An expert summarized the performance anxiety issue among athletes well in stating: "Today, there’s so much pressure they [athletes] put on themselves. They feel they don’t want to disappoint. . . We see so much anxiety. It’s amazing."
• The performance anxiety psychological/emotional stressor also impacts non-athletes in the form of pressure to succeed.
• Research found that 67% of millennials reported feeling "'extreme' pressure to succeed, compared to 40 percent of GenXers and 23 percent of Boomers."

2. Depression From Injury

•  Depression following an injury is also among the most-common psychological/emotional stressors experienced by athletes, as a result of competing/training.
• There is a strong nexus between depression and injuries among athletes.
• Injuries are extremely common among athletes. As just one example, nine in ten student athletes said they have some type of sports injury and over half (54%) said they played through an injury.
• Research has found that 80% of athletes being treated for injuries also cited psychological impacts resulted from those injuries.
• A sports injury has been described as "[o]ne of the most recognized risk factors for psychological distress among male athletes . . . ."
• An injury can be so significant for an athlete that it was even described as a "[m]ajor negative life event."
• Even non-injured athletes suffer from depression, as a study found that 21.4% of college student athletes in the U.S. reported experiencing depression symptoms. As another example, in Australia, 27.2% of athletes experienced depression symptoms.
• Depression is also a very prevalent psychological/emotional stressor among non-athletes, as the World Health Organization found that over 300 million individuals worldwide experience depression.

3. Body Image Perception

• One of the most-common psychological and emotional stressors experienced by athletes as a result of training/competing is body image perception, as demonstrated by the prevalence of eating disorders among athletes.
• Body image perception is so prevalent among athletes because their performance and appearance is closely linked to their body health.
• Approximately one-third of athletes (33-35%) said they have an eating disorder.
• Athletes are especially prone to eating disorders, as they are two to three "times more likely than the average individual to develop an eating disorder."
• Among women who participate in aesthetic sports, 43% have eating patterns classified as "disordered."
• A study of 583 triathletes (female and male) found that 100% of them "were unhappy with their current BMI [body mass index]."
• Between five percent and 10% of anorexia diagnoses are among males, but nearly half of those males (45%) were athletes or have a job where weight control is integral for performance.
• The body image psychological/emotional stressor strongly impacts non-athletes as well. According to the World Health Organization, eating disorders affect 70 million individuals worldwide.
• Within the general public, males account for one-fourth of people suffering from anorexia and approximately 50% of people suffering from binge eating disorder.
• In the U.S., seven million females in the U.S. have an eating disorder, as do one million males.

Your Research Team Applied the Following Strategy:

Common Ways Athletes Deal with Psychological and Emotional Stressors

#1. Practicing Visualization and Positive Self-talk

• Athletes visually rehearse motor skills through self-imaging and positive self-talk by allowing themselves to picture themselves as the winners or best athletes a few minutes before stepping into the actual competition.
• During this time, they mentally rehearse, imagining themselves doing everything correctly; breathing more relaxed, closing their eyes and employing mental imagery to visualize themselves performing optimally at a high level.
• The positive thought control enhances the athletes' self-awareness to identify negative thoughts and train the mind to then eliminate the negative thoughts and replace them with more adaptive positive ones.
• This coping mechanism also help athletes to have a more positive orientation with regard to the competitive situation, which in turn helps their attitude in coping with the emotional stressors experienced during training and competition.

#2. Setting Individual Goals

•  Goal setting is also another common coping strategy, which athletes employ to counter the effects of competitive anxiety in sport.
• Athletes set for themselves smaller, short-term goals after realistically gauging their abilities. This gives them the advantage of being able to attain reachable goals and with less added emotional stressors that would have gone into trying to achieve unattainable goals/targets.
• Setting goals also helps them keep track of progress, with a long-term perspective in mind as opposed to trying to achieve so much, so soon which usually brings with itself added psychological and emotional stress.
• Besides, successful attainment of any goal changes the brain's chemistry by increasing testosterone levels and decreasing cortisol levels. This enhances self-confidence and motivation, which are two of the main ingredients in combating stress and anxiety.

#3. Getting Enough Rest Before Competitions

• Rest is an important component of the training spectrum in general and is also particularly important for stress level and mental health.
• Good rest after a heavy work out or intense competition helps restore and replenish one's body, mind, and spirit which puts the athlete in good stead both psychologically and emotionally.
• Getting plenty of rest also helps one to perform at an optimal level and reduces the susceptibility to stress. Some athletes also squeeze in a nap during training when they find themselves lacking enough rest after training.
• They also ensure that they get enough sleep the night before a competition.

Suggestions About Dealing with Stressors.

#1. Breathing Deep and Progressively Relaxing Muscles

• Coaches and parents usually encourage relaxation techniques during training and at home to better manage the psychological and emotional stressors.
• These techniques include: deep breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, and mentalization during the game/training to keep their anxiety and stress at low levels.

#2. Focusing on the Task at Hand Rather than the Outcome

• Coaches and parents also encourage concentrating at what is present at the moment and the avoidance of thinking too far into the event or thinking about the finish.
• They also suggest that if one finds themselves having negative thoughts or negative self-talk, they ought to pause for a moment and focus only on the breathing.
• Focusing mainly on one's breathing movement automatically pulls them back into the present moment.

How Non-athletes Deal with Psychological and Emotional Stressors in Comparison to Athletes.

Research Strategy: