Relations of resilience and hardiness with sport achievement and mental health in a sample of athletes

Energy drinks, substance use, and posttraumatic stress symptoms among Palestinian athletes: the mediating role of perceived self-efficacy and resilience

The current study aimed to test the association between energy drinks, substance use, and posttraumatic stress symptoms, and the mediating role of perceived self-efficacy and resilience among Palestinian athletes. The sample of our study consisted of 480 Palestinian athletes: 160 women and 320 men, all were selected from five Palestinian universities located in the West Bank of Palestine. The findings of our study revealed that energy drinks positively correlated with substance abuse, and posttraumatic stress symptoms. In addition, a negative association was found between perceived self-efficacy, substance use, and posttraumatic stress symptoms. Moreover, a negative association was found between resilience, substance use, and posttraumatic stress symptoms. Results of Structural equation modeling (SEM) revealed that resilience and perceived self-efficacy mediated the association between energy drinks, substance use and posttraumatic stress symptoms. Our findings underline the importance of enhancing resilience and perceived self-efficacy among athletes to prevent initial substance use/misuse, as several traits found in resilient athletes such as high self-esteem, empathy, help-seeking, and self-awareness are important in deterring athletes from engaging in harmful substances like tobacco, marijuana, and alcohol.

The Relationship between Psychological Hardiness and Military Performance by Reservists: A Moderation Effect of Perceived Stress and Resilience

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of hardiness on the perceived military performance of reservists, i.e., young people who have full-time jobs in a civilian sector and perform military training as a part of their civic duty. We proposed the conceptual model with conditional indirect effects of the hardiness on personal military performance, where mediated moderation effects are observed from personality traits and variables important for military service: team cohesion, perceived stress, and psychological resilience. The final dataset was comprised of 384 self-reported paper-pencil questionnaires filled out by reserve soldiers, and PROCESS Macro 3.5 Model 7 and Model 14 were used for the analysis. The results revealed that perceived stress (Model 1) and psychological resilience (Model 2) have a statistically significant moderate mediating effect on the interlink between hardiness and performance when personality traits and team cohesion are taken into consideration. The change in R2 is statistically significant and explains how perceived stress and psychological resilience affect individuals. When psychological hardiness is low, the level of perceived stress has a statistically significant moderating effect, i.e., it reduces the effect of hardiness on performance. When comparing the effects of perceived stress and psychological resilience, the latter has a stronger moderating effect on performance. Specifically, the moderating effect of resilience was more evident in Model 2 (66.9% variance, r = 0.818) for the military performance of the reservists than the perceived stress in Model 1 (52.5% variance, r = 0.724). This means that resilience increases the accountability of Model 2 compared to Model 1 by 14.4%. We conclude that resilience training could statistically significantly increase the military performance of reserve soldiers as a tactical population.

A Survey of the Relationship Between Trait Anxiety and Mental Resilience of Marathoners in China

This study aims to investigate the relationship between trait anxiety and mental resilience in marathoners and the general population. The study recruited 135 marathoners and 140 members of the general population. Trait anxiety and mental resilience were measured by the State-Trait Anxiety Scale and the Chinese version of the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale. The amount of weekly exercise resulted in significant differences in the trait anxiety ( F = 6.358, p < 0.01) and mental resilience ( F = 5.996, p < 0.05) levels of the general population and marathoners. Age led to a significant difference in the trait anxiety of marathoners ( F = 10.890, p < 0.01). The half marathoners' daily exercise program is most suitable for the general population for reducing trait anxiety level and increasing mental resilience. Furthermore, marathoners showed lower trait anxiety and higher mental resilience. Therefore, long-term marathon adherence can help improve mental health.

Relationship Between Hardiness and Social Anxiety in Chinese Impoverished College Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Moderation by Perceived Social Support and Gender

During the COVID-19 epidemic, quarantine and financial disadvantages might exacerbate social anxiety among impoverished college students. Based on the hardiness model and the social support buffering model, the present study proposed and verified a dual moderation model to investigate the effects of hardiness on social anxiety and the moderating roles of gender and perceived social support. The hardiness scale, the perceived social support scale, and the social anxiety subscale of the self-consciousness scale were administered to 673 Chinese college students aged 18 to 23 years who were recognized as impoverished by the Chinese authorities and provided with funding. The results revealed that (1) hardiness had a significant negative effect on social anxiety, (2) perceived social support moderated the effect of hardiness on social anxiety, and (3) gender moderated the effect of hardiness on social anxiety. The dual moderated model proposed in the study provides practical implications for helping impoverished college students cope with social anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Athlete Resilience Trajectories Across Competitive Training: The Influence of Physical and Psychological Stress

Competitive sport involves physical and psychological stressors, such as training load and stress perceptions, that athletes must adapt to in order to maintain health and performance. Psychological resilience, one’s capacity to equilibrate or adapt affective and behavioral responses to adverse physical or emotional experiences, is an important topic in athlete training and performance. The study purpose was to investigate associations of training load and perceived sport stress with athlete psychological resilience trajectories. Sixty-one collegiate club athletes (30 females and 31 males) completed self-reported surveys over 6 weeks of training. Athletes significantly differed in resilience at the beginning of competitive training. Baseline resilience differences were associated with resilience trajectories. Perceived stress and training load were negatively associated with resilience. Physical and psychological stressors had a small but statistically significant impact on resilience across weeks of competitive training, indicating that both types of stressors should be monitored to maintain athlete resilience.

Resiliency and mental health of school teachers in Okinawa

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to describe the mental health issues among teachers globally and to investigate the significant factors that specifically impact the mental health of school teachers in Okinawa, Japan.

Design/methodology/approach

This cross-sectional study examined depression, anxiety, stress, self-esteem and resiliency among 174 teachers from seven schools in Okinawa, Japan. The study questionnaire consisted of four parts, including demographic data, Depression, Anxiety, and Stress scale (DASS-42), Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSE), and Connor-Davidson Resiliency Scale (CD-RISC). Multiple regression analyses were performed to identify predictors of mental health variables.

Findings

Of the 174 teachers, 111 were females (64%) and 60 were males (35%). Average age of participants was 41.65 (SD = 10.07). Average number of years being a teacher was 15.50 (SD = 9.88). There was a significant gender difference in the level of self-esteem. Significant differences in anxiety were found among varying grade levels taught. Regression analyses indicated that resiliency and self-esteem significantly predicted depression, anxiety and stress among school teachers in Okinawa.

Originality/value

This is the first study among school teachers in Okinawa that examined the impact of resiliency and self-esteem on their mental health. To reduce psychological distress common within the teaching profession, social and environmental support should be provided within the school to better foster the successful promotion of teacher resiliency and self-esteem.

Psychological Resilience in Young Female Athletes

Psychological resilience is an important construct that can enhance athletic performance and foster valuable life skills. Through positive adaptation to adversity and stressors in the athletic arena, athletes are able to cultivate their ability to effectively respond to negative stimuli, ultimately evolving to personal growth. For young female athletes, development of resilience may be particularly important. Young female athletes face distinct challenges in sport including sport inequity, body image issues, eating disorders, increased mental distress, and internalization of emotions. The aim of this review is to define and describe the construct of resilience and discuss the implications and applications relevant to young female athletes. By understanding how to foster resilience strategies in this population, we can enhance sport performance and enjoyment, as well as bolster valuable life skills that facilitate personal growth.

Exploring the Relationships between Resilience and Turnover Intention in Chinese High School Teachers: Considering the Moderating Role of Job Burnout

BACKGROUND

With the outbreak and spread of the COVID-19 epidemic, online teaching time has been extended continuously. The changes in teaching methods, teaching conditions, and teaching environment have brought great pressure and difficulties in adjustment to teachers, which have led to a series of physical and mental problems such as negativity, lack of confidence, and depression. The long-term accumulation of these problems makes teachers' turnover intention increasingly serious.

METHODS

Based on these premises, this study took 449 high school teachers in China as research objects and investigated the relationship between high school teachers' resilience, job burnout, and turnover intention in the context of the COVID-19 epidemic.

RESULTS

The resilience of high school teachers had a significant negative predictive effect on job burnout and turnover intention (r = -0.473, p < 0.05; r = -0.283, p < 0.05), while job burnout had a significant positive predictive effect on turnover intention (r = 0.485, p < 0.05). At the same time, job burnout played a moderating role between resilience and turnover intention (λ = -0.019, p < 0.001).

DISCUSSION

This study suggests that society, schools, families, and individuals should adopt various strategies to improve teachers' adaptability and relieve teachers' job burnout, so as to solve the practical problem of teachers' high turnover intention and ensure continuous improvement and healthy development of online teaching.

Effects of Dynamic Resilience on the Reactivity of Vagally Mediated Heart Rate Variability

Dynamic resilience is a novel concept that aims to quantify how individuals are coping while operating in dynamic and complex task environments. A recently developed dynamic resilience measure, derived through autoregressive modeling, offers an avenue toward dynamic resilience classification that may yield valuable information about working personnel for industries such as defense and elite sport. However, this measure classifies dynamic resilience based upon in-task performance rather than self-regulating cognitive structures; thereby, lacking any supported self-regulating cognitive links to the dynamic resilience framework. Vagally mediated heart rate variability (vmHRV) parameters are potential physiological measures that may offer an opportunity to link self-regulating cognitive structures to dynamic resilience given their supported connection to the self-regulation of stress. This study examines if dynamic resilience classifications reveal significant differences in vagal reactivity between higher, moderate and lower dynamic resilience groups, as participants engage in a dynamic, decision-making task. An amended Three Rs paradigm was implemented that examined vagal reactivity across six concurrent vmHRV reactivity segments consisting of lower and higher task load. Overall, the results supported significant differences between higher and moderate dynamic resilience groups' vagal reactivity but rejected significant differences between the lower dynamic resilience group. Additionally, differences in vagal reactivity across vmHRV reactivity segments within an amended Three Rs paradigm were partially supported. Together, these findings offer support toward linking dynamic resilience to temporal self-regulating cognitive structures that play a role in mediating physiological adaptations during task engagement.

Playing sport injured is associated with osteoarthritis, joint pain and worse health-related quality of life: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND

Sports participants are faced with the decision to continue or cease play when injured. The implications of playing sport while injured on joint health and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) has not been investigated. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between having played sport while injured and HRQoL, osteoarthritis, and persistent joint pain; and compare findings in elite and recreational cricketers.

METHODS

The Cricket Health and Wellbeing Study cohort was used for this study. Inclusion criteria were: age ≥ 18 years, played ≥1 cricket season. Questionnaire data collected included a history of playing sport injured, SF-8 (physical (PCS) and mental (MCS) component scores), physician-diagnosed osteoarthritis, and persistent joint pain (most days of the last month). Multivariable linear regressions and logistic regressions were performed. Continuous covariates were handled using fractional polynomials. Models were adjusted for age, sex, cricket-seasons played, playing status, joint injury, and orthopaedic surgery. All participants (n = 2233) were included in HRQoL analyses, only participants aged ≥30 years (n = 2071) were included in osteoarthritis/pain analyses.

RESULTS

Of the 2233 current and former cricketers (mean age: 51.7 SD 14.7, played 30 IQR 24 cricket seasons, 60% were current cricketers, 62% played recreationally; median PCS: 51.4 IQR 9.0; MCS: 54.3 IQR 8.6) 1719 (77%) had played sport while injured. People who had played sport injured reported worse adjusted PCS (Effect(95% CI): - 1.78(- 2.62, - 0.93) and MCS (- 1.40(- 2.25, - 0.54), had greater odds of osteoarthritis (adjusted OR(95% CI): 1.86(1.39, 2.51) and persistent joint pain (2.34(1.85, 2.96)), compared to people who had not played sport injured. Similar relationships were observed regarding PCS, osteoarthritis and pain in elite and recreational subgroups. Playing injured was only related to worse MCS scores for elite cricketers (- 2.07(- 3.52, - 0.63)); no relationship was observed in recreational cricketers (- 0.70(- 1.79, 0.39)).

CONCLUSION

Cricketers that had played sport injured had impaired HRQoL, increased odds of osteoarthritis and persistent joint pain, compared to those who had not played sport injured. Playing sport injured was only related to impaired mental-components of HRQoL in elite cricketers. The long-term impact of playing while injured on musculoskeletal health, should be considered when advising athletes on their ability to compete following injury.

Hardy personality and associated factors in health professionals active in services that treat critical patients

This study aimed to identify factors associated with the hardy personality in health professionals working in hospital services that treat critically ill patients. This is an epidemiological, cross-sectional, and analytical study conducted with 469 health professionals. We used the Hardiness Scale (HS), coupled with a questionnaire to investigate sociodemographic, occupational, and health conditions. A descriptive and bivariate analysis was performed using the chi-square test and the multiple model through multiple logistic regression, using the Hosmer-Lemeshow and PseudoR2 tests, estimating odds ratios. The classification of total scores in HS showed prevailing moderate hardiness (48.4%). Professionals with a fair or poor fantastic lifestyle (FL) were 74% less likely to show high hardiness than those with very good and excellent FL. Also, professionals who were not on leave, who had high satisfaction with compassion at work, low stress, and low burnout were more likely to show high hardiness. The hardy personality, directly and indirectly, influences the health and well-being of health professionals working in hospital services that treat critically ill patients.

Optimism and distress tolerance in the social adjustment of nurses: examining resilience as a mediator and gender as a moderator

Background

As nursing is recognised as one of the most stressful occupations in healthcare organisations, nurses are vulnerable to adjustment challenges.

Aims

The authors examine the association between optimism, distress tolerance and social adjustment through the mediating role of resilience and the moderating role of gender among Iranian nurses.

Methods

The sample consisted of 183 nurses working in six private hospitals in Iran. The authors employed structural equation modelling to test a moderation-mediation model of social adjustment.

Results

Findings reveal that: (a) resilience partially mediates the association between distress tolerance and social adjustment and the link between optimism and social adjustment - nurses with high levels of optimism and distress tolerance are significantly more likely to report greater resilience and subsequently report higher social adjustment; and (b) gender plays a moderating role in the model - women reported higher levels of optimism and lower levels of both resilience and distress tolerance than men. However, men reported higher levels of both distress tolerance and resilience as well as better social adjustment in comparison to female nurses.

Conclusions

The promotion of resilience may contribute to increased social adjustment, optimism and distress tolerance at work.

Resilience, stress and injuries in the context of the Brazilian elite rhythmic gymnastics

The study had the goal to study the relationship between resilience, stress and injuries in the sport context. Eight female athletes, part of the Rhythmic Gymnastics Brazilian Team along the Olympic Cycle 2015-2016 participated in the study, with a mean age of 20.4±2.5 years. The following instruments were used: RESTQ-76 Sport, CD-RISC 10, documental analysis of physical therapy records, and structured questionnaire. Data was analyzed by descriptive statistics (frequency, mean and standard deviation); Repeated Measured ANOVA with Bonferroni's post-hoc, Student's "t" test, Friedman test, Pearson Correlation Coefficient, Cohen's d, and inductive thematic analysis. We found relatively stable levels of stress and recovery across the season; total recovery levels were higher than stress at all four measured timepoints (p<0.05); All athletes had at least one injury, with a total of 14 injuries; No significant correlations were found between the quantitative scores of resilience, stress and recovery; Training and the sport's scoring system were the most relevant perceived stressors; athletes presented meta-cognition and a non-positive evaluation (neutral) of stressors; Social support was considered the main psychological factor for the resilience process; such process resulted in improved control and interpretation of emotions; Our hypothesized model proposes that, in the relationship between stress and injuries, resilience acts by optimizing the injury recovery process. It was concluded that resilience plays a role in the process of injury rehabilitation and stress control in elite rhythmic gymnastics' athletes.

Relationship of resilience, anxiety and injuries in footballers: Structural equations analysis

Resilience is a psychological characteristic which enhances personal assets and protects individuals from potential negative effects of various stressors. While this topic has been considered in the separate context of sports injuries and anxiety states, these issues have rarely been considered together. The objective of this study is to analyse the association between motivation to overcome injuries in football and the state of anxiety caused by those injuries. One hundred and eighty-five footballers from Spain were analysed by way of the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory questionnaires, and an injury self-registration sheet. Statistical analyses were performed using structural equations. Results showed a direct and positive relationship between the capacity to face up to injuries or potential injuries and to adapt successfully to them for injured footballers, especially when anxiety was considered as a transitory emotional state. In addition, this relationship was stronger in non-injured sportspersons because their resilience capacity was not being impaired by the experience of an injury.

The effect of nasal provocation with a single-dose allergen on the physical and cognitive performance of patients with ragweed allergy

Purpose This study aims to compare the impact of active allergic rhinitis on physical and cognitive abilities of trained allergic athletes to untrained allergic patients. Methods Cognitive, respiratory, and fitness functions were assessed before and after allergen exposure. Participants in both groups were provoked intranasally with ragweed allergen. Results The group of athletes revealed significantly higher average values in peak inspiratory flow and fitness index before and after provocation. In neuropsychological assessments, athletes performed significantly better after allergen provocation in complex working memory capacity. Due to single acute allergen exposure, the size of the nasal cavity and nasal inspiratory peak flow significantly decreased in both groups. The physical performance of both groups did not change after provocation. Executive functions and complex working memory capacity of athletes significantly improved resulting from provocation. Conclusions A single-shot allergen in high dose might cause an increase in mental concentration, which was more pronounced in the group of athletes. This study indicates that acute exposure to allergen cannot affect the physical performance and may result in increased mental focus in patients with allergy notwithstanding the declining respiratory functions.

Relationship Between Resilience and Coping Strategies in Competitive Sport

Resilience is important in sport performers to withstand the pressure they experience. This study analyzed the relationship among resilient qualities and coping strategies in 235 Spanish athletes (126 males, 109 females; M age = 20.7 yr) who practiced different sports (79.1% team sports, 20.9% individual sports). They were evaluated at the beginning of the last competitive mesocycle and after an important competition. Coping strategies and level of resilient qualities were measured by the Coping Inventory for Competitive Sport and the Resilience Scale. There was no significant difference in resilience scores between evaluations performed during the last mesocycle or competition. A significant increase occurred in the scores for emotion-oriented and distraction-oriented coping during competition. Resilience scores correlated positively to task-oriented coping and negatively to disengagement- and distraction-oriented coping during both periods. Analysis of variance indicated that athletes with high individual resilient qualities reached higher scores in task-oriented coping, using to a lower extent disengagement- and distraction-oriented coping. Results obtained suggest that resilient characteristics may associate in athletes to the use of more potentially adaptative coping strategies.

Problem-solving skills appraisal mediates hardiness and suicidal ideation among malaysian undergraduate students

OBJECTIVES

Recent evidence suggests that suicidal ideation is increased among university students, it is essential to increase our knowledge concerning the etiology of suicidal ideation among university students. This study was conducted to examine the relationships between problem-solving skills appraisal, hardiness, and suicidal ideation among university students. In addition, this study was conducted to examine problem-solving skills appraisal (including the three components of problem-solving confidence, approach-avoidance style, and personal control of emotion) as a potential mediator between hardiness and suicidal ideation.

METHODS

The participants consisted of 500 undergraduate students from Malaysian public universities.

RESULTS

Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) estimated that undergraduate students with lower hardiness, poor problem-solving confidence, external personal control of emotion, and avoiding style was associated with higher suicidal ideation. Problem-solving skills appraisal (including the three components of problem-solving confidence, approach-avoidance style, and personal control of emotion) partially mediated the relationship between hardiness and suicidal ideation.

CONCLUSION

These findings underline the importance of studying mediating processes that explain how hardiness affects suicidal ideation.

Resiliency as a factor protecting youths from risky behaviour: Moderating effects of gender and sport

We hypothesised that resiliency may protect adolescents against risky behaviours, and that both the practicing of sports, and gender are moderating variables in relationships between resiliency and risky behaviours. The study included 18-year-old pupils from a selection of secondary schools (n = 556). A total of 188 individuals practiced competitive sports and the remaining 368 participants were non-athletes. The participants were examined with the Resiliency Assessment Scale for Children and Adolescents (SPP-18) and with a survey containing questions and statements related to high-risk "experiments with adulthood". Adolescent athletes showed higher levels of resiliency than their peers. The power of the "Determination and Persistence in Action" effect on "Alcohol" scale differed significantly between male athletes and male non-athletes. Only in the athletes groups were higher scores on this scale reflected by lower values on the "Drugs" scale. Moreover, it is possible to observe differences in undertaking risky behaviour between male and female athletes. The analysis of risky sexual behaviour suggests that sport is a risk factor for men, and a protective factor for women. These data suggest that consistent prophylactic and psycho-educative activities, with a special attention to differences between genders, should be provided to all the adolescents, irrespective of their sport performance levels.

The Role of Hardiness in Decreasing Stress and Suicidal Ideation in a Sample of Undergraduate Students

Suicide is a serious and growing public health problem, and it remains a serious cause of death in the world; therefore, it is essential to increase our knowledge concerning the etiology of suicide among undergraduate students. Previous studies have shown that perceived stress increases vulnerability to suicidal ideation. However, factors that may explain the association have not been studied empirically. A cross-sectional study was conducted to examine hardiness as a potential mediator between perceived stress and suicidal ideation among undergraduate students. The participants comprised 500 undergraduate students from Malaysian public universities. They completed the Personal Views Survey, Beck Scale for Suicidal Ideation, and the Perceived Stress Scale. Structural equation modeling estimated that undergraduate students with low levels of hardiness were more likely to report suicidal ideation. As expected, hardiness partially mediated between perceived stress and suicidal ideation. Our findings demonstrated that lower hardiness and greater perceived stress significantly predicted suicidal ideation among undergraduate students. These findings reinforce the importance of hardiness as a protective and predictive factor against perceived stress and suicidal ideation among undergraduate students.

Hardiness as a mediator between perceived stress and happiness in nurses

The relevance of the study of happiness and stress in nurses has been emphasized. In this sense, the intelligent use of hardiness is enable nurses to cope better with stress and contribute to being happier. This study aimed to examine the relationship among hardiness, perceived stress, and happiness in nurses. Moreover, we examined the mediator role of hardiness on the relationship between perceived stress and happiness in nurses. Our study revealed that hardi-attitude nurses evaluate situations as less stressful which results in a higher happiness. This study showed hardiness as being a protective factor against perceived stress and a facilitating factor for happiness in nurses. The findings could be important in training future nurses so that hardiness can be imparted, thereby giving them the ability to control their stress. Nursing is a stressful occupation with high levels of stress within the health professions. Given that hardiness is an important construct to enable nurses to cope better with stress and contribute to being happier; therefore, it is necessary we advance our knowledge about the aetiology of happiness, especially the role of hardiness in decreasing stress levels and increasing happiness. The present study sought to investigate the role of hardiness as a mediator between perceived stress and happiness. The participants, comprising 252 nurses from six private hospitals in Tehran, completed the Personal Views Survey, the Perceived Stress Scale, and the Oxford Happiness Inventory. Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) was used to analyse the data and answer the research hypotheses. As expected, hardiness partially mediated between perceived stress and happiness among nurses, and nurses with low levels of perceived stress were more likely to report greater hardiness and happiness. In addition, nurses with high levels of hardiness were more likely to report happiness. This study showed hardiness as being a protective factor against perceived stress and a facilitating factor for happiness in nurses. The findings could be important in training future nurses so that hardiness can be imparted, thereby giving them the ability to control their stress.