Individual differences play a significant role in the outcomes experienced by adolescent athletes, in what is a highly stressful period of their development. Stress reactivity is a stable individual difference underlying the broad variability in responses to stress, which has received very little attention within sport. Conventional physiological measures of reactivity can be time-consuming, costly, and invasive; therefore, this study aimed to adapt a self-report measure of perceived stress reactivity for use with adolescent athletes. 243 Adolescent athletes competing in various sports completed the perceived stress reactivity scale for adolescent athletes (PSRS-AA) along with measures of perceived stress, Big Five personality traits, and subjective well-being. The five-factor, 23 item structure of the original PSRS provided an adequate model fit for the PSRS-AA. There was good internal consistency and test retest reliability for the scale's measure of total reactivity. Total reactivity was positively associated with perceived stress, and negatively associated with emotional stability, extraversion, openness, and life satisfaction. Female adolescent athletes reported significantly higher stress reactivity than males. These findings provide good initial support for the use of PSRS-AA as a valid alternative to physiological measures of stress reactivity in youth sport contexts.

This study examined a path analysis of adolescent athletes’ individual differences in perceived stress reactivity, competition appraisals, emotions, coping, and performance satisfaction. The study aimed to extend an analysis by Nicholls et al. (2012) and further validate the use of the Perceived Stress Reactivity Scale for Adolescent Athletes (PSRS-AA). Adolescent athletes ( N = 229, M age = 18.55, SD = 2.40) completed the PSRS-AA followed by a measure of competition appraisals less than 1 h before a competitive event. Within an hour after the competitive event, participants completed a retrospective assessment of emotions, coping strategies, and subjective performance. A path analysis revealed that perceived stress reactivity had direct and indirect effects on the appraisal of higher stressor intensity, lower perceived control, higher perceived threat, negative emotions, and maladaptive coping. Increased threat, positive and negative emotions, and maladaptive coping were associated with performance satisfaction. However, task-orientated coping was not associated with performance satisfaction. The present study enhances and refines the validity of the PSRS-AA for assessing adolescent athletes’ perceived stress reactivity. Further strengths and weaknesses of the present study are discussed, along with recommendations for practitioners aiming to support adolescent athletes with high levels of stress reactivity.

Student athletes experience multiple stressors relating to both their sporting and academic commitments. Individual differences play a significant role in how well student athletes cope with the demands they face. When assessing individual differences in stress reactivity, there are a lack of valid alternatives to costly and time-consuming lab-based physiological methods (e.g., cortisol sampling, cardiac variables). This paper aims to further validate a self-report measure of adolescent athletes’ individual differences in perceived stress reactivity, by comparing to a psycho-physiological measure of emotion regulation (heart-rate variability) assessed during a socially evaluated cold pressor test. 30 student athletes and 31 student non-athletes completed a measure of perceived stress reactivity and took part in the socially evaluated cold pressor test while their heart-rate variability was assessed, along with their self-reported appraisals of stress, pain, and unpleasantness experienced during the procedure. Controlling for gender and athleticism, individual differences in perceived stress reactivity showed no associations with tonic or phasic levels of heart-rate variability. However, perceived stress reactivity was associated with levels of self-reported stress, pain, and unpleasantness experienced during the socially evaluated cold pressor test. These findings therefore suggest that perceived stress reactivity is associated with cognitive responses to stress (i.e., stress appraisals). However, further research is needed to confirm its relationship with physiological measures and responses. This further adds to the understanding of perceived stress reactivity, and validity of the perceived stress reactivity scale for adolescent athletes.

Individual differences play a significant role in the outcomes experienced by adolescent athletes, in what is a highly stressful period of their development. Stress reactivity is a stable individual difference underlying the broad variability in responses to stress, which has received very little attention within sport. Conventional physiological measures of reactivity can be time-consuming, costly, and invasive; therefore, this study aimed to adapt a self-report measure of perceived stress reactivity for use with adolescent athletes. 243 Adolescent athletes competing in various sports completed the perceived stress reactivity scale for adolescent athletes (PSRS-AA) along with measures of perceived stress, Big Five personality traits, and subjective well-being. The five-factor, 23 item structure of the original PSRS provided an adequate model fit for the PSRS-AA. There was good internal consistency and test retest reliability for the scale's measure of total reactivity. Total reactivity was positively associated with perceived stress, and negatively associated with emotional stability, extraversion, openness, and life satisfaction. Female adolescent athletes reported significantly higher stress reactivity than males. These findings provide good initial support for the use of PSRS-AA as a valid alternative to physiological measures of stress reactivity in youth sport contexts.

Emotions and emotion regulation within athletic populations have been explored and examined by researchers and practitioners for many years. However, no research within the field of sport psychology has utilised a quantifiable measure of sportspeople's tendency to use, and perceived efficacy of, interpersonal strategies (i.e. regulating one's own emotions via social interactions). The present study therefore aimed to examine the Interpersonal Regulation Questionnaire (IRQ; Williams et al., 2018) for use within sporting contexts. Two hundred and sixty-two sportspeople completed the IRQ along with measures of perceived social support, life satisfaction, and mental toughness.Confirmatory factor analysis revealed the IRQ to have good model fit to its 4-factor structure and good internal reliability. IRQ scores were associated with greater perceived availability of social support and subjective wellbeing. However, IRQ scores did not correlate with self-reported mental toughness. These results provided support for use of the IRQ as a measure for sportspeople's trait level of interpersonal emotion regulation.