SOURCES OF STRESS IN NATIONAL CHAMPION FIGURE SKATERS

This investigation examined stress and sources of stress experienced b y U.S. national champion figure skaters. Seventeen national champions, who held their titles between 1985 and 1990, were interviewed about t he stress they experienced as national champions and were asked to ide ntify specific sources of stress. Qualitative methodology was used to inductively analyze the interview transcripts and revealed that 71 % o f the skaters experienced more stress after winning their title than b efore doing so. Stress source dimensions were also identified and incl uded: relationship issues, expectations and pressure to perform, psych ological demands on skater resources, physical demands on skater resou rces, environmental demands on skater resources, life direction concer ns, and a number of individual specific uncategorizable sources. In ge neral, these findings parallel the previous elite figure skaters stres s source research of Scanlan, Stein, and Ravizza (1991), although ther e were several points of divergence relative to the type of stressors experienced by this sample of national champion athletes.