Coping Strategies In Athletic Training

Recently, Kania, Meyer, and Ebersole (2009) expressed concern regarding burnout and stress among athletic trainers and provided lifestyles recommendations such as balance of leisure and work, and conducting regular exercise to prevent or alleviate symptoms of stress. However, it is unfortunate that recommendations made in the athletic training literature seem to be founded on findings from either perceptions of experienced athletic trainers or other helping professions, or both (Pitney, 2010). Only a few authors have conducted empirical examination of the coping responses and the sources of stress experienced by athletic trainers (Mazerolle, Monsma, Dixon, and Mensch, 2012). Therefore, more empirical research is required to enhance recommendations …show more content…
Coping strategy refers to the use of a particular effort to attempt and master to reduce, minimize, or tolerate stressful events. Tugade and Fredrickson (2007) identify that resilience and self-regulation are two important coping strategies that can enable athletic trainer to effectively cope with stressors facing them. Field, McCabe, Schneiderman and Field (2013) argue the developing resilience can help to overcome stressful situations. In the past three decades, resilience research has increased in popularity, and variety of data and models have emerged regarding effectiveness of this construct in the field of psychology. Athletic trainers deal with several adverse situations such as work overload, which can disrupt their focus on performing their duties (Capel, 1986). Tugade and Fredrickson (2004) opine that being in a position to bounce back from challenges or adverse situations, which cannot be controlled, can help athletic trainers to develop resilience. Going through adverse situations allow individuals to experience various emotions thus making them develop tolerance and thus move forward and develop characteristics that make them mentally strong and tough. Tugade and Fredrickson (2004) say that being resilient implies having an attitude of “I can do”. It is apparent that resilience is a potential coping mechanism, …show more content…
Aspinwall and Taylor (1997) define self regulation as an individual’s capability to plan, adapt, control and evaluate behaviors, feelings, and thoughts to accomplish personal goals. Based on the fact that self-regulation entails processes which are within a person’s control (for example, evaluating and planning), it can be developed with interventions and practice. This variable has been associated with positive wellbeing outcomes. In their study, Wiesa, Weiss, and Yukelson (1991) identify that social workers with higher self-regulation capacity experienced greater levels of wellbeing and reduced levels of stress and burnout. In the context of police force context, police officers with higher self regulation capability reported better levels of positive effects and psychological wellbeing than those with lower capability. In another study, Wiesa, Weiss, and Yukelson (1991) noticed that nurses with increased self-control reported superior interpersonal relationships than their colleagues with less control. These studies show that self-regulation capability may be a pertinent variable to investigate in the context of athletic trainers in relation to negative (burnout, stress) and positive (wellbeing) outcomes. Many authors (Tugade and Fredrickson, 2007; Aspinwall and Taylor, 1997; Kania, Meyer, and Ebersole, 2009) have linked wellbeing with self-regulation capacity in many