Organizational stress and well-being in competitive sport: a systematic review

Abstract

Research on organizational stress in sport has expanded within recent decades. Despite voluminous literature, no systematic reviews exist to congregate findings in a single, rigorous point of reference. Filling this void helps researchers and practitioners to understand organizational stress and its implications for health, well-being, and performance. The objectives of this study were to search for, appraise, and critically synthesize the literature on organizational stress (i.e. stressors, appraisals, coping, emotions) and or well-being within the context of organizational stress in competitive sport, with the intention of progressing conceptual, methodological, and applied understanding. A systematic review was conducted using PRISMA guidelines and robust searches of PsycArticles, PsycInfo, and SPORTDiscus databases. The final sample comprised 55 methodologically sound studies with athletes, coaches, and or support staff. Findings revealed a myriad of organizational stressors, underpinned by a range of situational properties, and managed using various coping options (e.g. problem solving). Appraisals, emotions, and well-being received scant attention in the context of organizational stress. Experiences of organizational stress among athletes, coaches, and support staff have highlighted implications for healthand performance-related outcomes. Future research should consider longitudinal, diary, integrative designs, and analytical pluralism within under-represented populations (e.g. coaches, support staff) to deepen our understanding.

Lockdown and No Lockdown: How Norwegian and Swedish Elite Athletes Managed Preparations for Tokyo 2020 and Mental Health Challenges in the Shadow of COVID-19

“…Many sport-specific risk-factors for athlete mental health are modifiable at different levels in the sporting context, and as shown in the current study, risk- and protective factors commonly involve the individual athlete, the close context around the athlete (i.e., coaches, family, teammates) as well as the context within the wider sports environment (see also Purcell et al, 2019 ; Reardon et al, 2019 ). The findings in this study emphasize contentions by other scholars who have stressed the importance to consider various levels of the ecological sporting context to enable a comprehensive understanding of both risk and protective factors and their interaction in relation to athlete mental health (Purcell et al, 2019 ; Kuettel and Larsen, 2020 ; Lundqvist, 2021 ; Simpson et al, 2021 ). Empirical knowledge of protective factors among sports populations has, however, until recently received sparse attention in sports psychology research and still constitute a limiting factor for the development of support systems targeting both performance and mental health among elite athletes (Breslin et al, 2017 ; Kuettel and Larsen, 2020 ).…”

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“…In sport, well-being has been studied in various populations, for example coach and practitioner well-being ( 72 – 76 ) and organizational well-being ( 77 – 79 ). However, for the purpose of this commentary and critique, we will focus on athlete well-being.…”

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