Examining coaches’ perceptions of how their stress influences the coach–athlete relationship

Abstract

This study extends recent coach stress research by evaluating how coaches perceive their stress experiences to affect athletes, and the broader coach-athlete relationship. A total of 12 coaches working across a range of team sports at the elite level took part in semi-structured interviews to investigate the 3 study aims: how they perceive athletes to detect signals of coach stress; how they perceive their stress experiences to affect athletes; and, how effective they perceive themselves to be when experiencing stress. Following content analysis, data suggested that coaches perceived athletes able to detect when they were experiencing stress typically via communication, behavioural, and stylistic cues. Although coaches perceived their stress to have some positive effects on athletes, the overwhelming effects were negative and affected "performance and development", "psychological and emotional", and "behavioural and interaction" factors. Coaches also perceived themselves to be less effective when stressed, and this was reflected in their perceptions of competence, self-awareness, and coaching quality. An impactful finding is that coaches are aware of how a range of stress responses are expressed by themselves, and to how they affect athletes, and their coaching quality. Altogether, findings support the emerging view that coach stress affects their own, and athlete performance.

Examining mental health literacy, help-seeking behaviours, distress, and wellbeing in UK coaches

“…The number of stressors coaches face has a direct impact on their mental health and, because of the transactional nature of stress (Lazarus and Folkman, 1987), the mental health of their youth athletes (Thelwell et al, 2016, 2017). The ability to identify and successfully cope with stressors benefits both coaches and the youth athletes they coach because how stressors and their consequences are perceived and addressed have significant implications for their own mental health and the mental health of their youth athletes (Thelwell et al, 2016, 2017). The more literate coaches are about mental health and identifying stressors, the more proactive they may be in addressing and reducing the stigma of poor mental health and supporting others to seek support.…”

Self-reported Attributes of Police-chiefs Compared to Civil Leadership: Inner drive, Tolerance to stress and Enterprise

“…High levels of job-stress and/or low capacity for stress tolerance influence creativity, efficacy, productivity and quality-ofperformance [10,7]. Low stress tolerance is associated with low energy, low positive affect and low optimism [11], all of which are linked to low social status [12]. Leaders who exhibit emotional stability present a calm composure in the face of work pressures and/or crises, show patience with subordinates' development and thrive on setbacks [13].…”

Does Distance Produce Beauty? The Influence of COVID-19 Lockdown on the Coach-Athlete Relationship in a Chinese Football School

“…This question deserves further study. Most existing empirical studies have focused on the antecedent variables (leadership, stress), outcome variables (burnout, satisfaction), and mediation effects (achievement goals) of coach-athlete relationships (Isoard-Gautheur et al, 2016;Thelwell et al, 2017;Davis et al, 2019). Some scholars have conducted comparative research based on coach-athlete relationships (Lenzen et al, 2004;Yang and Jowett, 2012).…”