The Power of Faith: The Influence of Athletes’ Coping Self-Efficacy on the Cognitive Processing of Psychological Stress

Abstract

Coping self-efficacy (CSE) has a positive mental health effect on athletes’ ability to cope with stress. To understand the mechanism underlying the potential impact of CSE, event-related potentials (ERPs) were used to explore the neural activity of the cerebral cortex under acute psychological stress in athletes with different CSE levels. Among 106 high-level athletes, 21 high-CSE athletes and 20 low-CSE athletes were selected to participate in the experiment. A mental arithmetic task was used to induce acute psychological stress. The results showed that high-CSE athletes responded more quickly than low-CSE athletes. In the stress response stage, the N1 peak latency of low-CSE athletes was longer than that of high-CSE athletes, and the N1 amplitude was significantly larger than that of high-CSE athletes. In the feedback stage, the FRN amplitude with error feedback of high-CSE athletes was larger than that of low-CSE athletes, and the P300 amplitude with correct feedback was larger than that with error feedback. The results indicate that high-CSE athletes can better cope with stressful events, adjust their behaviors in a timely manner according to the results of their coping, and focus more on processing positive information.

Coping strategies for handling stress and providing mental health in elite athletes: a systematic review

“…The study of Guo et al ( 24 ) examined differences between athletes with high and low coping self-efficacy (CSE) levels under acute psychological stress . The study showed that low-CSE athletes lacked confidence and hence were more likely to not know what to do when facing stress.…”

“…However, traditional sport psychology is mainly focused on optimizing performance in a presumably healthy population, although mental health problems in elite sport have received increased attention, revealing the need for a broader mental health continuum ( 42 , 73 ) and for more attention to the potential relationship of athletic coping skills with well-being and mental health ( 40 ). As coping self-efficacy has a positive mental health effect on athletes' ability to cope with stress, athletes can thus better cope with and eliminate interference caused by competitive stressors and eventually achieve their best performance and protect their mental health ( 24 ).…”

“…In team sports coping effectiveness training programs combined with attention modification issues should be incorporated in the training of athletes to help them to better cope with and eliminate interference caused by competitive stressors and eventually achieve their best performance and protect their mental health ( 24 )…”

Academic Stress and Coping Self-Efficacy of Senior High School Students Attending Distance Learning During Sars-Cov-2 Pandemic

“…This is a feeling or belief that one can successfully deal with stressors like academic demands and family problems. The measure of coping self-efficacy has been used across ages and different situations, like in the study of Guo et al (2019), where the results indicate that athletes with high coping self-efficacy can better cope with stressful events, regulate their actions accordingly and move their attention to process positive information. Schneider's (2020) study among high school students showed a positive and significant relationship between strengths use and well-being, strengths use and coping self-efficacy, coping self-efficacy and well-being.…”