Stressors and coping strategies among early and middle adolescent premier league academy soccer players: differences according to age

Reeves, Clive W.; Nicholls, Adam R.; McKenna, Jim

doi:10.1080/10413200802443768

Stressors and coping strategies among early and middle adolescent premier league academy soccer players: differences according to age

Reeves, Clive W.; Nicholls, Adam R.; McKenna, Jim

Authors

Clive W. Reeves

Professor Adam Nicholls A.Nicholls@hull.ac.uk
Professor of Psychology/ Leader of the Sport Psychology and Coaching Group

Jim McKenna

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine stressors and coping strategies among early (12-14 years) and middle adolescents (15-18 years). Forty male academy soccer players, aged between 12-18 years (M age = 14.22 years), participated in semi-structured interviews, which were inductively and deductively content analyzed. Findings revealed that middle adolescents reported more stressors than early adolescents and that these two groups experienced both common and different stressors. Early adolescents identified making errors, opponents, team performance, and family as salient stressors. Making errors, team performance, coaches, selection, contracts, social evaluation, and playing at a higher level were more prominent among middle adolescents. Middle adolescents reported a greater number and repertoire of coping strategies than early adolescents, and used more problem- and emotion-focused strategies, but fewer avoidance strategies than early adolescents. Based on these findings, it is recommended that applied practitioners working within soccer academies take into account the players' age when providing psychological support.

Citation

Reeves, C. W., Nicholls, A. R., & McKenna, J. (2009). Stressors and coping strategies among early and middle adolescent premier league academy soccer players: differences according to age. Journal of applied sport psychology, 21(1), 31-48. https://doi.org/10.1080/10413200802443768

Journal Article Type	Article
Acceptance Date	Dec 12, 2007
Online Publication Date	Jan 14, 2009
Publication Date	Feb 3, 2009
Journal	JOURNAL OF APPLIED SPORT PSYCHOLOGY
Print ISSN	1041-3200
Electronic ISSN	1533-1571
Publisher	Taylor and Francis
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	21
Issue	1
Article Number	PII 907767512
Pages	31-48
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1080/10413200802443768
Keywords	Applied Psychology
Public URL	https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/387026
Publisher URL	https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10413200802443768