Stress mindset and mental health in NCAA head coaches: The mediating role of resilience

Abstract

Coaching college sports involves chronic stress exposure, but little is known about how stress-related beliefs are associated with coaches’ psychological adaptation. Stress mindsets capture whether individuals view stress as enhancing or debilitating. This study conducted a cross-sectional survey to examine whether stress mindsets are associated with coaches’ psychological outcomes (depressive symptoms and life satisfaction) indirectly through resilience. A sample of 235 NCAA head coaches across Division I, II, and III completed questionnaires asking about stress mindset, resilience, depressive symptoms, and life satisfaction, in order to capture both positive and negative psychological outcomes. A structural equation modeling technique was used to examine a theory-based mediation model derived from stress appraisal theory. Results indicated that a positive stress mindset was associated with higher resilience whereas a negative stress mindset was associated with lower resilience. Further, resilience was strongly associated with lower depressive symptoms and higher life satisfaction. Mediation analyses revealed significant indirect effects of positive stress mindsets on these psychological outcomes through resilience, whereas the indirect effects of negative stress mindset were marginal (p = .055 - .058). These findings extend stress appraisal theory to the coaching realm and identify resilience as a key psychological mechanism linking stress-related beliefs to coaches’ psychological functioning.