University of Alberta post-doctoral fellow, Dr. Katherine Tamminen reviews some of stressors female athletes experience and how those can be dealt with coaches and sport psychologists.

1. Stress and Coping Among Female Athletes The Elite Female Athlete: Putting Evidence into Practice Katherine Tamminen, PhD

2. Why stress and coping? Coping in sport is important for: Goal attainment & positive affect (Gaudreau, Blondin, & Lapierre, 2002) Elite performance environments (e.g., Holt & Dunn, 2004; Nicholls et al., 2005) Injury rehabilitation (Smith, Smoll, & Ptacek, 1990)

3. Stressors are perceptions about demands that are “taxing or exceeding one’s resources” Coping is a process cognitive and behavioural efforts to manage appraised stressors (Lazarus, 1999)

4. Types of Stressors in Sport Chronic stressors Acute stressors Interpersonal stressors (coaches, teammates) Competitive Stressors (referees, opponents) Organizational stressors (scheduling, travel, financial costs of competition)

5. Female collegiate volleyball players (Holt, Berg, & Tamminen, 2007)

6. Women’s National Soccer Players (Holt & Hogg, 2002)

7. Differences between men and women?

8. Differences in stressors? More stress associated with interpersonal relationships (peers, parents, coaches?) Greater personal investment in interpersonal success High levels of worry and distress over peer relationships

9. Differences in coping? Men Women Venting emotions Active coping Avoidance Problem-focused coping? Social support, help-seeking Increased effort Emotion-focused coping Problem-focused coping?

10. Socialization Hypothesis Men and women are socialized to deal with stress in different ways Men Women Deny problem or avoid it to conceal emotions Solve problems, confrontation Express emotions Seek support from others (Hoar, Crocker, Holt & Tamminen, 2010; Hoar, Kowalski, Gaudreau, Crocker, 2006; Ptacek, Smith, & Zanas, 1992)

11. Structural Hypothesis Men and women cope differently because they perceive different stressors (which require different coping strategies) If men and women reported the same stressors, then gender differences in coping should disappear

12. Research findings: More similarities than differences? No difference in the ‘amount’ of coping Gender differences for some coping strategies when dealing with specific stressors: Women used more seeking social support to deal with coach or own behaviour as stressor) NO differences found for using social support to deal with coaches, peers, referees, or family. “Gender differences are not robust across sources of interpersonal stress” (Hoar, Crocker, Holt, & Tamminen, 2010)

13. Research findings All athletes use coping strategies which include: increasing effort suppressing competing activities active coping self-blame Women used more seeking social support for emotional reasons & more increased effort Men did not use more problem-focused coping (Crocker & Graham, 1995)

14. Research findings Coping among female collegiate volleyball players: Stressors were hard to predict Effective coping = using a combinationof coping strategies (Holt, Berg, & Tamminen, 2007) “To reach high competitive levels, athletes must use a repertoire of problem-focused coping strategies to actively change or manage a demanding environment to achieve success.” (Crocker & Graham, 1995, p.332)

15. Suggestions for Coaches Be aware that female athletes may appraise more interpersonal stressors (and you might be one of them!) You play a role in exposing athletes to stressors (e.g., expected vs. unexpected stressors) Sharing your experiences about coping with stressors can be helpful for your athletes.

16. Helping Athletes Think About Coping Identify stressors What are you currently doing to cope with stress? Are these strategies effective? Adaptive? Explore options for coping with athletes: Encourage them to reflect on their past experiences “What have you done in the past to deal with this kind of situation?”

17. Adaptive Coping Maladaptive Coping Avoidance Disengagement/ withdrawal Rumination Resignation (giving up) Aggression Problem focused: Approach strategies Situation control(figure out what the problem is) Positive self-statements Emotion focused: Minimization (e.g., “it’s not that bad”) Short-term avoidance (distraction/recreation) Cognitive restructuring Seeking support

18. Thank you! Katherine Tamminen, PhD tamminen@ualberta.ca