AASP Newsletter - September 2018

Leilani Madrigal	Tiffanye M. Vargas

Leilani Madrigal, Ph.D., CMPC, Long Beach State University & Tiffanye M. Vargas, Ph.D., CMPC, Long Beach State University

Mental Toughness (MT) has been defined as a “collection of values, attitudes, behaviors, and emotions that enable you to persevere and overcome any obstacle, adversity, or pressure experienced, but also maintain concentration and motivation when things are going well to consistently achieve your goals” (Gucciardi, Gordon, & Dimmock, 2008, p. 278). Athletes consider MT important for both negative (e.g., making a mistake) and positive situations (e.g., defending championships; Gucciardi et al., 2008). MT is also related to decreasing burnout over time (Madigan & Nicholls, 2017), lowering competition anxiety (Schaefer, Vella, Allen, & Magee, 2016) and increasing psychological well-being (Stamp et al., 2015). Athletes who are mentally tough are able to cope more effectively with stress as they utilize more problem-focused approaches and report higher coping self-efficacy (Kaiseler, Polman, & Nicholls, 2009; Nicholls, Levy, Polman, & Crust, 2011). The importance of MT to sport performance is well established, and can be developed through the influence of multiple stakeholders (i.e., coaches, parents, friends; Cote, 1999; Gould, Dieffenbach, & Moffett, 2002). However, as athletes grow older, the coach’s influence becomes more heavily weighted (Martin, Ewing, & Gould, 2014).  Coaches agree that they hold a critical role in developing mentally tough athletes (Weinberg, Butt, & Culp, 2011). The purpose of this study, supported by funding from the AASP Research Grant, was to explore how coaches from team sports at the high-school and collegiate (NCAA Division I) level foster and develop mental toughness. While data from the college coaches’ responses are currently being analyzed, data analysis of the high-school coaches is complete and discussed below.

Fifteen head high-school coaches participated in individual semi-structured interviews. Questions were modified or adapted from previous qualitative studies on MT/MT development and explored attributes of MT, situations of MT, and how coaches seek to develop MT in their athletes (Driska, Kamphoff, & Armentrout, 2012; Gucciardi, Gordon, & Dimmock, 2009; Weinberg et al., 2011). Participants were given a $20 gift card to a coffee shop for participating. The AASP Research Grant supported the current study through the purchase of participant incentives as well as funding for research assistants and travel to conduct interviews. Interviews were transcribed and content analyzed using peer debriefings and triangulation (Creswell & Poth, 2018; Patton, 2002). Results suggest strategies to foster MT include a) coaching environment (i.e., setting up a safe/family environment, incorporating fun days, and developing good relationships built on trust with athletes), b) communication (i.e., using positive encouragement, being open and honest regarding athlete’s progress, and having conversations instead of ignoring and hoping issues resolve themselves), c) instruction and drilling (i.e., challenging athletes through adversity in practice by inducing pressure and high intensity drills), and d) mental components (i.e., practicing mental preparation and incorporating mental skills into practices). High-school coaches indicated that important factors that are specific to working with their athlete population include challenges due to maturity, varying levels of experience, academic and college recruitment pressures, social distractions, and different work ethic in contrast to older athlete populations. From the coaches’ perspectives, the family environment (i.e., family foundation, familial support, socioeconomic status) was an indicator of an athlete’s MT development. Some coaches felt that more family support and structure contributed to MT development, while parent’s overprotection and coddling of athletes hindered development.

Established coaches’ suggestions to neophyte coaches included to work purposefully on developing MT in their athletes (i.e., not assume it will occur naturally), establish strong coach-athlete relationships and a clear coaching philosophy, as well as focus on their own self-improvement. Established coaches believed that these elements of coach behavior promoted a MT-facilitative environment, in which athletes could better learn under pressure and develop MT. These findings are consistent with other sport populations, such as NCAA head coaches (Weinberg et al., 2011), elite Australian football coaches (Gucciardi et al., 2009), and elite swimming coaches (Driska et al., 2012), in which researchers have assessed and discussed MT development and specific MT training strategies for coaches at the high-school level.

References

Cote, J. (1999). The influence of the family in the development of talent in sport. The Sport Psychologist, 13, 395-417. doi: 10.1080/2159676X.2013.857708

Creswell, J. W., & Poth, C. N. (2018). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches 4th Edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Driska, A. P., Kamphoff, C., & Armentrout, S. M. (2012). Elite swimming coaches’ perceptions of mental toughness. The Sport Psychologist, 26, 186-206.

Gould, D., Dieffenbach, K., & Moffett, A. (2002). Psychological characteristics and their development in Olympic champions. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 1, 172-204. doi: 10.1080/10413200290103482

Gucciardi, D. F., Gordon, S., & Dimmock, J. A. (2008). Towards an understanding of mental toughness in Australian football. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 20, 261-281. doi: 10.1080/10413200801998556

Gucciardi, D. F., Gordon, S., & Dimmock, J. A. (2009). Understanding the coach’s role in the development of mental toughness: Perspectives of elite Australian football coaches. Journal of Sports Sciences, 27, 1483-1496. doi: 10.1080/02640410903150475

Kaiseler, M., Polman, R. C., & Nicholls, A. (2009). Mental toughness, stress, stress appraisal, coping, and coping effectiveness in sport. Personality and Individual Differences, 47,728-733. doi: 10.1016/j.paid.2009.06.012

Madigan, D. J., & Nicholls, A. R. (2017). Mental toughness and burnout in junior athletes: A longitudinal investigation. Psychology of Sport & Exercise, 32, 138-142.

Martin, E. M., Ewing, M. E., & Gould, D. (2014). Social agents’ influence on self-perceived good and bad behavior of American youth involved in sport: Developmental level, gender, and competitive level effects.  The Sport Psychologist, 28, 111-123

http://dx.doi.org/10.1123/tsp.2013-0005

Nicholls, A., Levy, A., Polman, R., & Crust, L. (2011). Mental toughness, coping self-efficacy, and coping effectiveness among athletes. International Journal of Sport Psychology, 42, 513-524.

Patton, M. Q. (2002). Qualitative evaluation and research methods (3^rd ed.). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

Schaefer, J., Vella, S. A., Allen, M. S., & Magee, C. A. (2016). Competition anxiety, motivation, and mental toughness in golf. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 28, 309-320. doi: 10.1080/10413200.2016.1162219

Stamp, E., Crust, L., Swann, C., Perry, J., Clough, P., & Marchant, D. (2015). Relationships between mental toughness and psychological wellbeing in undergraduate students. Personality and Individual Differences, 75, 170-174.

Weinberg, R., Butt, J., & Culp, B. (2011). Coaches’ views on mental toughness and how it is built. International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 9, 156-172. doi: 10.1080/1612197X.2011.567106.