PEOPLE HELPING PEOPLE - EXAMINING THE SOCIAL TIES OF ATHLETES COPING WITH BURNOUT AND INJURY STRESS

It is often assumed that important others can play significant roles i n reducing stress among athletes. However, little attention hits been given to (a) what specifically these important others say or do to red uce stress (empathize vs. motivate), and Cb) how prevalent various typ es (positive vs. negative) of interactions are, This investigation att empted to fill this void. In-depth retrospective interviews were condu cted with athletes who experienced burnout (n = 10) or season-ending i njuries (n = 21). Inductive analysis revealed that athletes' evaluatio ns of the specific behaviors of important others tended tu vary accord ing to the stress (burnout vs. injury) experienced. Additionally, freq uency analysis revealed that athletes described their interactions wit h important others as negative more often than as positive. The findin gs are discussed in relation to current conceptualizations of social i nteractions.