Antecedents of perceived stress in trail runners: do emotion regulation and negative self-talk matter?

Abstract

ABSTRACT In recent years, trail running has gained popularity which has translated to an increase in the research conducted in this field. However, as little is known regarding how psychological factors facilitate or hinder trail running, in the present study we delved into perceived stress, which is a key variable on how individuals experienced the sport. Thus, this study aims to (1) to examine the antecedents of perceived stress by testing a model where trail runners’ emotion regulation and negative self-talk were expected to predict their perceived stress, (2) provide evidence regarding the mediating effect of negative self-talk in the relationship between emotion regulation and perceived stress. A total of 142 trail runners (Mage = 36.11, SD = 7.33; 119 men, 23 women) with different experience completed an online questionnaire. Bootstrap methods were used to test a model where negative self-talk was expected to mediate in the relationship between emotion regulation and perceived stress. Results confirmed the hypothesised model and showed that the negative self-talk used by trail runners mediated in the negative relationship between emotion regulation and perceived stress. These findings are considered within the framework of athletes’ psychological functioning, highlighting that improving emotion regulation may be particularly important to trail runners – individuals that face stressful events during their involvement in the sport. The novel role of negative self-talk shows a potential approach to manage trail runners’ perceived stress. Limitations of the results and implications of these findings for future research are discussed.