Abstract
Research examining the student-athlete experience proposes a number of factors that can be both sources of stress and/or support. The dual career pathway offers a number of potential positive outcomes including psychological, social, and financial benefits; however, challenges including time management, fatigue, and restricted social activities are well documented. In consideration of the multidimensional student-athlete experience and the numerous factors that influence the complexity of potential stress, a mixed methods research study design was used in the study. First, data collected from surveys completed by 173 elite junior alpine skiers were analyzed to identify the degree to which athletes report experiencing stress associated with specific aspects pertaining to training, life, and organizational factors. These factors were then explored through semi-structured interviews with six coaches at the associated national elite sport schools. Taken collectively, athletes’ reports of psychophysiological training stress on the Multidimensional Training Distress Scale were low. Scores on the college student-athletes’ life stress scale revealed very low levels of general life stress; although the subscales associated with “performance demand” and “academic requirements” scored marginally higher. Scores on the Organizational Stressor Indicator for Sport Performers indicated low levels of organizational stress. The interviews with coaches elucidated the underlying factors potentially influencing athletes’ positive adaptations to stress as they reported programming a number of strategies to reduce negative outcomes. Coaches aimed to teach athletes self-awareness and regulation strategies through the use of the training diaries and ongoing communication to promote positive adaptation to stress. A number of coaches also worked with sport psychology consultants to optimize athletes’ training and study situations. Traditionally, research has noted high levels of stress in student-athletes due to co-occurring demands (school & sport); however, the data in the present study suggests that optimizing support mechanisms across domains can promote positive adaptations to potential sources of stress.
Highlights
Research examining the experience of adolescent student-athletes proposes that individuals aiming to achieve high levels of success within both sport and academic domains are prone to increased stress as a result of combined performance demands (Stambulova and Wylleman, 2015; Kristiansen, 2017)
Extensive research investigating the dual career pathway in sport has previously used research designs that predominantly focus solely upon student-athletes’ perceptions of a range of variables associated with health and performance. Both qualitative and quantitative methods have been used widely across the study of dual career athletes, very limited studies have used mixed methods research (MMR; e.g., Sorkkila et al, 2018b) and to our knowledge no studies have combined data collected from a variety of participants
Sparkes (2015) and Smith and McGannon (2018) note potential challenges with the use of MMR in sport and exercise psychology research, if these issues are considered throughout the research process the integration of research techniques may provide a thorough investigation of a phenomenon of interest (Teddlie and Tashakkori, 2012)
Summary
Research examining the experience of adolescent student-athletes proposes that individuals aiming to achieve high levels of success within both sport and academic domains are prone to increased stress as a result of combined performance demands (Stambulova and Wylleman, 2015; Kristiansen, 2017). An athlete’s ability to adapt to the stressful situation of the dual career pathway (i.e., combining sport and education, sport and work) may be influenced by the contributing factors and support mechanisms that comprise their environment (Stambulova et al, 2015). The role of the coach is to promote athletes’ positive adaptations to the demands of training and competition with the aim of maximizing performance outcomes; their perspective of athletes’ development within the dual career pathway is relevant (Gledhill and Harwood, 2015). The purpose of the present study was to examine Swedish elite alpine skiers’ reports of academic and sport related psychological stress in combination with coaches’ perspectives of related factors influencing athletes’ adaptations to stress
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