Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/1893/34572
Appears in Collections:Faculty of Health Sciences and Sport Journal Articles
Peer Review Status: Refereed
Title: Provider-recipient perspectives on how social support and social identities influence adaptation to psychological stress in sport
Author(s): Hartley, Chris
Coffee, Pete
Abhyankar, Purva
Contact Email: purva.abhyankar@stir.ac.uk
Keywords: stress
social support
social identity
qualitative
thematic analysis
naturalistic paradigm
rugby
academy sport
Issue Date: 2022
Date Deposited: 19-Sep-2022
Citation: Hartley C, Coffee P & Abhyankar P (2022) Provider-recipient perspectives on how social support and social identities influence adaptation to psychological stress in sport. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, Art. No.: 940747. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.940747
Abstract: Psychological stress can be both a help and a hindrance to wellbeing and performance in sport. The provision and receipt of social support is a key resource for managing adaptations to stress. However, extant literature in this area is largely limited to the recipient’s perspective of social support. Furthermore, social support is not always effective, with evidence suggesting it can contribute to positive, negative, and indifferent adaptations to stress. As such, we do not know how social support influences adaptations to stress in sport. The social identity approach may explain how social support can lead to both positive and negative adaptations to stress. Our purpose in this study was to explore how social support and social identities influence adaptations to stress in a Rugby Academy Programme. Using qualitative methods within a naturalistic research paradigm, semi-structured interviews were conducted with Rugby Academy co-ordinators (n = 6) and players (n = 12), and four focus groups were conducted with teams of support staff (n = 18). Data were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis, which generated seven sub-themes categorized into two higher-order analytical themes. Our results demonstrate that group-based perceptions of social support influence adaptations to stress. Specifically, whether social support influences positive, negative, or indifferent adaptations to stress depended on (1) social factors influencing the nature of social support, and (2) social factors influencing the provision and receipt of social support. These findings advance our understanding of how adaptations to stress are influenced by social support. Implications are offered for how organizations, teams, and practitioners can facilitate positive adaptations to stress in sport.
DOI Link: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.940747
Rights: © 2022 Hartley, Coffee and Abhyankar. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Licence URL(s): http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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