Stress, Resilience, Coping & Psychological Well-being in Injured Indian Athletes: Team vs Individual Sports

Abstract

It is quite common for sports persons of various sports playing at a competitive level with vigorous training programs to experience setbacks for several reasons, and injuries are one of the most popular reasons of all. It is caused either by overtraining, or due to lack of proper recovery resources. These athletes tend to go through stressful situations and use different methods to cope with it. Literature in exercise and sport psychology suggest that most sports persons show good levels of resilient characteristics as well. The current study aimed at understanding the levels of stress, resilience, coping strategies, and psychological well-being among athletes who experienced injuries in their sporting careers and evaluate the difference based on the type of sport they play i.e. team and individual sports persons. The findings of this research reveal no significant difference in resilience among injured sports players. Individual players showed higher levels of fatigue, and injury, whereas team players showed higher levels of resilience. Dimensions of coping such as coping with adversity, coachability, concentration, and freedom from worry were shown to be significant predictors and frequently used strategies in both team and individual players.