Sharleen Hoar

How does coping change with development? A review of childhood and adolescence sport coping research

Abstract It is important to study how children and adolescents cope with stressors in sport because effective coping enhances sport experiences and prevents psychological and physiological problems that can lead to sport withdrawal. The purpose of this review was to summarize the existing child and adolescent coping research to establish how coping changes with development in the achievement context of sport. We reviewed and summarized relevant coping research published from 1980 to 2004 using a ‘content analysis’ approach to identify consistencies and limitations in this literature. Four content areas were examined: coping responses, gender differences, consistency of coping/coping style, and coping effectiveness. Ways in which coping changes with development from childhood to adolescence were examined within each of these content areas. Fundamental future research questions and implications for research design are presented.

Gender Differences in Adolescent Athletes’ Coping with Interpersonal Stressors in Sport: More Similarities than Differences?

This study examined gender differences in the types of coping strategies adolescent athletes use to manage sport-related interpersonal stress. To explain gender coping differences, the dispositional and situational gender coping hypotheses were explored (Tamres, Janicki, & Helgenson, 2002). Adolescent athletes from Western Canada (N = 524) completed measures of stress appraisal and coping-strategy use in response to a self-selected interpersonal stress source in sport. Results revealed gender differences, but only in select coping strategies. Gendered-coping was not robust across interpersonal sources of stress, providing partial support for the situational gender coping hypothesis. The results are discussed in relation to stress processes that mediate gendered coping as well as the implications for practitioner assistance in youth athletes’ stress-management.

Effects of a Print-mediated Intervention on Physical Activity during Transition to the First Year of University

Transition to the first year of university is linked to steep declines in moderate–vigorous physical activity (MVPA). The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of a targeted, theory-driven, print-based intervention on MVPA during transition to university. Volunteer participants from five Canadian universities (n = 255) completed measures of MVPA at the start of their first semester at university and were randomly assigned to conditions receiving a first-year-student physical activity and action-planning brochure, Canadas Physical Activity Guide (CPAG), or a no-intervention control group. Six weeks later, a follow-up measure of MVPA was obtained as well as retrospective accounts of physical activity action-planning strategies and self-efficacy for scheduling physical activity. At the follow-up, students who received the targeted first-year student physical activity brochure reported significantly higher levels of MVPA compared to controls (p < .05) and a trend towards higher MVPA compared to the CPAG group (p = .06). However, there were no differences between groups on action planning or self-efficacy. A theory-driven and targeted print media intervention can offer low-cost and broad-reaching effects that may help students stay more active or curb declining levels of MVPA that occur during transition to university.

Determinants of help-seeking intentions in the context of athletic injury recovery.

Abstract Injured athletes who utilize social support cope more efficiently with the demands of rehabilitation (Green & Weinberg, 2001). The purpose of this research was to investigate the relationship between help‐seeking intention, gender, and expectancy beliefs in the context of injury rehabilitation. A sample of 120 university athletes indicated help‐seeking intentions associated with six potential helpers in response to three different hypothetical vignettes reflecting psychological phases of injury recovery. Repeated measures ANOVA with pairwise comparisons revealed that athletes’ intentions to select a help provider varied according to psychological phase of rehabilitation and gender. Hierarchical regression analyses confirmed assertions that expectancy beliefs of nurturance and expertise are important determinants of male and female athletes’ help‐seeking intentions. This investigation is the first study to empirically determine criteria athletes use in forming help‐seeking intention appraisal from different sport social network members holding expert and non‐expert roles.