“Oh, My God! My Season Is Over!” COVID-19 and Regulation of the Psychological Response in Spanish High-Performance Athletes

Abstract

Background: In an unprecedented situation of interruption of the sporting dynamics, the world of sport is going through a series of adaptations necessary to continue functioning despite coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). More than ever, athletes are facing a different challenge, a source of discomfort and uncertainty, and one that absolutely alters not only sports calendars, but also trajectories, progressions, and approaches to sports life. Therefore, it is necessary to identify the levels of psychological vulnerability that may have been generated in the athletes, because of the coexistence with dysfunctional responses during the COVID-19 experience, and which directly influence the decrease of their mental health.Methods: With a descriptive and transversal design, the study aims to identify the state of the dysfunctional psychological response of a sample of Spanish athletes (N = 284). The DASS-21 (Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale), Toronto-20 (alexithymia), and Distress Tolerance Scale questionnaires were administered to a sample of high-level Spanish athletes in Olympic programs.Results: The results suggest that the analyzed athletes indicate high levels of dysfunctional response (e.g., anxiety, stress, depression, and alexithymia) when their tolerance is low. In addition, the variables show less relational strength, when the capacity of tolerance to distress is worse and age is lower. At the same time, the greater the anxiety and uncertainty are, leading to more catastrophic and negative thoughts, the younger the athletes are.Conclusions: It is clear that both age and tolerance to distress are considered adequate protective factors for psychological vulnerability in general and for associated dysfunctional responses in particular. Moreover, the psychological resources offered by more experienced athletes are also a guarantee of protection against negativity and catastrophism.

Efeitos da pandemia de Covid-19 sobre os aspectos psíquicos e comportamentais de atletas: uma revisão sistemática (Effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on the psychic and behavioral aspects of athletes: a systematic review)

“…Em relação à faixa etária, os atletas mais jovens exibiram graus de ansiedade, insegurança e pensamentos catastróficos superiores aos dos veteranos. Tal tendência denota que a experiência de vida, o acúmulo de vivências pessoais e o tempo de prática são hipoteticamente capazes de robustecerem a resiliência e o otimismo (González-Hernández, 2021). Em compensação, os veteranos sem programas de treinamento específicos e com monitoração frequente pelos treinadores e preparadores físicos demonstraram quedas na motivação mais intensas do que as observadas nos novatos (Ruffault, 2020).…”

“…Não foram registradas diferenças nos escores totais dos testes de ansiedade aplicados a atletas contaminados e não contaminados por Covid-19. A mesma tendência se Uma característica demográfica dos estudos foi a de que a maior parte deles foi efetuada na América do Norte e em nações da Europa (Graupensperger, 2020;Håkansson, 2020;Ozen, 2020;Leguizamo, 2021;Szczypińska, 2021;Şenışık, 2021;diCagno, 2020;Turgut, 2020;Demarie, 2020;Fiorilli, 2021;Facer-Childs, 2021;diFronso, 2020;Morbée, 2021;Ungur&Karagozoğlu, 2021;Özen, 2021;Ruffault, 2020;Lautenbach, 2021;Pons, 2020;Martínez-González, 2021;González-Hernández, 2021;Roberts & Lane, 2021;Sanborn, 2021). Além deles, pesquisas aconteceram, em menor grau, no Irã, China e África do Sul.…”

Emotional states of athletes in the first lockdown due to Covid-19: A comparison of Polish and Spanish samples

“…Thus, we see in the current study that Polish athletes, especially women, have a stronger response to the lockdown situation, which should receive particular interest. Numerous studies show that athletes all around the world experienced a decrease in mental wellbeing, an increased level of stress, anxiety, depressive symptoms and feelings of anger, confusion during the first lockdown, and women and individual sports representatives seem to have the highest costs of the problematic situation of pandemic [1,9,[19][20][21].…”

Effects of home confinement on physical activity, nutrition, and sleep quality during the COVID-19 outbreak in amateur and elite athletes

“…Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, many researchers have identified how the coping capacity and lived experiences of elite and amateur athletes have had different repercussions on their physical and mental health, as well as alterations in sleep and nutrition during confinement ( 21 , 22 ). Some authors have shown that athletes tended to live the experiences associated with the pandemic in different ways, with the increase in anxiety and stress levels being most reported, especially in amateur athletes ( 23 ), mainly due to the fear of being infected ( 24 , 25 ).…”