Stress, Sport Anxiety, Neuroticism, and Coping in Student-Athletes: Implications for Patient Mental Health

Abstract

Context: Patients' mental health has been recognized as important in providing patient-centered care in athletic training.

Objective: To evaluate stress, sport anxiety, neuroticism, and coping in student-athletes.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Setting: University athletics.

Patients or other participants: The sample comprised 86 student-athletes competing in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III.

Main outcome measure(s): The Perceived Stress Scale, Sport Anxiety Scale-2, neuroticism scale of the Big Five Inventory, and Brief COPE were used to measure stress, sport anxiety, neuroticism, and coping, respectively.

Results: Sport anxiety was positively related to stress (r = 0.446, P < .001) and neuroticism (r = 0.311, P < .01) and not related to emotion-focused coping (r = 0.270, P = .804). Neuroticism was a negative predictor of emotion-focused coping (b = -0.373, P < .001), and sport anxiety and stress were predictors of dysfunctional coping (b = 0.120, P < .05; b = 0.037, P < .05). Stress, sport anxiety, and neuroticism were not predictors of problem-focused coping.

Conclusions: Support was evident for the relationship among stress, sport anxiety, neuroticism, and coping in NCAA Division III student-athletes. Such results warrant future exploration to inform behavioral interventions targeting student-athlete psychosocial factors to promote improved performance, reduce injury risk factors (eg, stress, personality, coping), and enhance student-athlete mental health and well-being.

Keywords: patient-centered care; personality; well-being.