Study: “Oh, My God! My Season Is Over!” COVID-19 and Regulation of the Psychological Response in Spanish High-Performance Athletes
The coronavirus disease 2019, an unprecedented situation of disruption to sporting dynamics, is forcing the world of sport to make a series of adjustments necessary to continue functioning. Athletes face a new challenge that changes much. There is a source of unease and uncertainty that is changing not only sports calendars, but also trajectories, progressions and approach to sports life.
The study by González-Hernández et al. (2021) addresses the identification of levels of psychological vulnerability that may have arisen in athletes due to coexistence with dysfunctional responses (anxiety, stress, depression) during the Corona pandemic, negatively affecting mental health. The authors’ aim was therefore to describe how athletes perceived their cognitive and emotional response to the situation created by the Corona pandemic and to establish possible links to the extent to which stress tolerance is a psychological resource that protects against emotional vulnerability. 284 Spanish athletes from several sports who belong to a professional league or participate in summer and winter Olympic Games were interviewed.
Results of the study showed that the analyzed athletes show a high level of dysfunctional reactions when their stress tolerance is low. At the same time, the younger the athletes, the greater the anxiety and insecurity, which lead to more negative and catastrophic thoughts. Psychological resources of more experienced athletes are thus a guarantee of protection against negativity and catastrophism, suggesting that both age and tolerance to distress are considered adequate protective factors for psychological vulnerability in general and for related dysfunctional reactions in particular.
Source: González-Hernández J, López-Mora C, Yüce A, Nogueira-López A and Tovar-Gálvez MI (2021) “Oh, My God! My Season Is Over!” COVID-19 and Regulation of the Psychological Response in Spanish High-Performance Athletes. Front. Psychol. 12:622529. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.622529
Study: How stress and mental strength can affect mental health
Due to a high training load, decisive selection processes, role conflicts and biological changes during puberty, young elite athletes are exposed to stress every day. However, each person’s resources are limited and if the coping mechanisms are not sufficient, this can have negative psychological consequences for the individual.
A recently published study by Gerber, Best, Meerstetter et al. investigated how stress and mental strength can affect psychological well-being in young elite athletes. The research question stated whether mental strength has a positive effect on the psyche when one is exposed to high stress. Mental strength is a personality construct that leads an individual to cope with challenging situations and stressors, or to deal better with failures.
257 young Swiss athletes took part in the study (M = 16.82 years, SD = 1.44, 36 % female). The data of the study is based on different questionnaires, which were determined at two points in time.
The data showed that about 10% of the participating athletes showed symptoms of burnout or depression. There were positive correlations between the level of stress experienced and the symptoms of burnout or depression recorded. In addition, they found out that mentally stronger athletes had fewer psychological problems in stressful situations than mentally weaker athletes.
The results of the study underline the need to inform young athletes to the issue of stress. In the long run, stress can lead to psychological disorders, and a permanent end to their sporting career. The data have shown that mental strength has a positive effect on mental health when exposed to high stress. As preventive measures, the athletes should be mentally strengthened so that mental health can be guaranteed, even in a stressful situation.
Source: Gerber, M., Best, S., Meerstetter, F., Walter, M., Ludyga, S., Brand, S., … & Gustafsson, H. (2018). Effects of stress and mental toughness on burnout and depressive symptoms: A prospective study with young elite athletes. Journal of science and medicine in sport, 21(12), 1200-1205.
Professional football – when perfectionism becomes a problem
The recent study by Jensen, Ivarsson, Fallby et al., Published in the “Psychology of Sports and Exercise” in 2018, shows that mental health is a big issue in elite sports.
Among other things, the study examined the relation between perfectionism and anxiety and depressive symptoms among Danish and Swedish male professional footballplayers. 323 players (age M = 22.08 years, SD = 5.15) of the first league and the U19 teams were interviewed. Worth mentioning here is the high response rate of the questionnaires sent of around 75%, which suggests that the topic aroused great interest among the respondents.
In 16.7% of the participants, almost every sixth player, the data showed signs of depressive symptoms. There was also a negative correlation between age and anxiety, social phobia and perfectionist concerns. However, depression was not significantly correlated with age, although junior team players achieved higher levels of depression, competitive scoring, and social phobia as compared to the professional players.
These findings indicate that greater awareness of mental health is needed in professional sport, and in football in particular. “What distinguishes many high performance athletes is perfectionism,” says Anne-Marie Elbe, professor of sports psychology at the University of Leipzig and head of the study. “It has a positive, motivating effect. But it can also create fear, the fear of not being perfect. And that drives many professional footballplayers, coupled with the fear of being judged by others, the so-called social fear. These relationships have been clearly demonstrated by our study. “
Source: Jensen, S. N., Ivarsson, A., Fallby, J., Dankers, S., & Elbe, A.-M. (2018). Depression in Danish and Swedish elite football players and its relation to perfectionism and anxiety. Psychology of Sport & Exercise, 36, 147–155. doi:10.1016/j.psychsport.2018.02.008
DOI: 10.1016/j.psychsport.2018.02.008 .