Relationship among Mental Toughness, Stress Coping Styles and Optimism in Veteran and Disabled Volleyball Players

Abstract

Aims: Many and different tensions that the veteran and disabled athletes always experience during their lives take part in their mental activities. Therefore, one of the most effective methods in the prevention of their mental disorders is to find out the psychological factors that resolve the veteran athletes’ behavioral disorders and problems. The aim of the study was to determine the correlation between mental toughness, the stress coping styles, and optimism in the veteran and disabled athletes of the Iranian Sitting Volleyball Super-League. Instrument & Methods: In the correlational descriptive study, 70 male veteran and disable volleyball athletes of the Iranian Sitting Volleyball Super-League were studied in 2014. The subjects were purposefully selected. Data was collected by athlete mental toughness, stress coping styles, and the life-orientation revised test questionnaires. Data was analyzed by SPSS 20 software using correlational Spearman correlation and simple linear regression tests. Findings: The mental toughness significantly correlated with the stress coping styles and the problem-focused, intuitional, and avoidance styles. More than 8% of the changes in the stress coping styles was explained by the mental toughness. The optimism significantly correlated by the mental toughness and the confidence and control components. In addition, more than 18% of the mental roughness changes was explained by the optimism. However, the optimism significantly correlated with the intuitional stress coping style only. Conclusion: The tougher veteran and disabled volleyball athletes cope with stress through better styles. In addition, it is possible to improve mental toughness through the optimism skills trainings.

Keywords

• mental deficiency
• optimism
• coping skills
• volleyball