Lecture 24: Coping Strategies

Question 1

Define stress.

Answer 1

An imbalance between demand and response capabilities

Failure to meet demand has important consequences

Question 2

Define coping.

Answer 2

Changing behaviour to meet demands that are appraised to taking or exceeding the internal resources of an individual

Question 3

Equation for stress response.

Answer 3

Stress response = demands of situation > coping resources

Question 4

What are the two coping strategies?

Answer 4

Problem-focused (alleviating environmental issue that is causing stress)
Emotion-focused (regulating emotion)

Question 5

What are the two coping styles?

Answer 5

Approach (tackle problem head on)

Avoidance

Question 6

Describe the conceptual framework of emotion.

Answer 6

Problem-Approach: analyse what error was and make correction
Problem-Avoidance: try again & don’t worry
Emotion-Approach: relaxation to reduce stress
Emotion-Avoidance: ignore situation

Question 7

When interviewing Korean athletes, what did Park conclude was the most important coping dimension?

Answer 7

Psychological skills training

Question 8

What were the 6 coping resources Glaccobbi identified in golfers?

Answer 8

Cognitive (imagery)
Relaxation (arousal management) 
Out of Sport (reading a golf magazine)
Emotion (breaking clubs) 
Off Course (alcohol) 
Golf-Course strategies (pre-performance routines)

Question 9

What were Glaccobbi et al.’s applied recommendations for golfers?

Answer 9

Use imagery
Use self-talk
Be aware of own typical coping strategies
Record thoughts at times of stress

Question 10

What are the two hypothesis for the nature of coping strategies?

Answer 10

Dispositional Hypothesis (Same coping strategies for all situations)
Dynamic Hypothesis (coping strategy changes dependent on the situation)

Question 11

What did Nicholls et al. identify as the most frequently used coping strategies by elite golfers?

Answer 11

Blocking
Concentration techniques
Technical Adjustments

Question 12

Which of the coping styles/strategies did Nicholls et al. find was used most by elite golfers?

Answer 12

Problem-focused strategies

Did switch between problem-focused; emotion-focused and avoidance-focused over the 31 days

Question 13

What are the findings on gender differences in coping strategies?

Answer 13

Males: more problem-focused
Females: emotion-focused and social support
Very mixed findings however

Question 14

What did Nicholls & Polman discover and suggest about coping strategies in young and old people?

Answer 14

Old people are better at coping

Need to start teaching people coping strategies at a younger age

Question 15

What have been identified as the psychological responses to: problem-focused; emotion-focused and avoidance coping strategies?

Answer 15

Problem-focused: increased positive affect
Emotion-Focused: increased anxiety and negative affect
Avoidance: increased anxiety and perfectionism

Question 16

What did Eubank & Collins identify about the relationship between anxiety interpretation and coping strategies?

Answer 16

Facilitators: had more specific problem and emotion focused coping strategies, and also had a higher coping score
Debilitators: had no set coping strategy

Question 17

What did Nicholls and Polman identify as the negative consequences of an inability to cope?

Answer 17

Sport withdrawal
Decreased performance
Inability to pursue career

Question 18

In their meta-analysis, what did Nicholls and Polman identify as the main three determinants of effective coping?

Answer 18

Automaticity
Selection of coping strategy
Perceived control over stressors

Question 19

What effect did increased coping effectiveness have on athletes at the Olympic Games?

Answer 19

Improved placement, decreased dysfunctional emotions and increased satisfaction with performance

Question 20

What are the controllable and uncontrollable aspects of coping effectiveness training?

Answer 20

Controllable: problem-focused
Uncontrollable: emotion-focused

Question 21

In Reeves et al.’s intervention for youth footballers with low coping, what strategies were adopted to implement an intervention?

Answer 21

Work book
Behaviour and cognitive management training
45-60 minute activity sessions
“Do-review-learn-apply” model

1: understanding stressors and coping ability
2,3: uncontrollable stressors
4,5:controllable stressors
6:social support

Question 22

What was the result of Reeves et al.’s coping effectiveness training on youth footballers?

Answer 22

Increased coping effectiveness score and subjective improvements in some footballers