Sources, symptoms and coping strategies in stress – competitive in swimmers

Abstract

This transversal descriptive research aimed to characterize the stress-precompetitive 123 swimmer’s category Mexican master. The age of participants ranged between 36 and 92 years old. The instrument used to collect information was the questionnaire FUSIES (sources, symptoms and stress coping strategies), this was applied before starting a master serial belonging to national swimming competition. The instrument measures perceived stress, under a Likert scale from 1 = never and 5 = extreme, with Cronbach's alpha of .95. Among the main results normal low stress (M = 2,307 ± 0.5) was observed in swimmers; sources that generate greater stress are the injustice of authorities (M = 3.70 ± 1.2), a lot of traffic (M = 3.48 ± 1.1) and no money (M= 3.28 ± 1.2). In turn, symptoms of stress with the highest score in swimmers is Concern (M= 2.96 ± 1.08), the back strain (M= 2.62 ± 1.2) and stuttering (M= 2.34 ± 1.3). Regarding coping strategies most frequently applied swimmers are: exercise (M= 3.59 ± 1.35), finding the solution (M = 3.51 ± 1.35) and think positively (M = 3.51 ± 1.31). Think positively concluding that allows them to reduce their levels of concern, insecurity and desperation pre-competitive, so it is assumed that levels of perceived stress are at a moderate level.