Abstract
The current study sought to expand upon the body of sport psychology research by examining the relationship between competitive anxiety, neuroticism, stress, and coping in a sample of Division III student-athletes, a section of the student-athlete population that had been largely unexamined. The sample was comprised of 86 student-athletes from a liberal arts college competing at the NCAA Division III level of competition. Analyses were conducted utilizing an archival dataset from "Stretch Yourself," a resilience program for student-athletes. The Sport Anxiety Scale – 2, Brief COPE, and Big Five Inventory, were used to measure competitive anxiety, coping, and neuroticism, respectively. Results from Pearson correlations indicated that competitive anxiety was positively related to neuroticism (r = .311, p < .01), competitive anxiety was positively related to stress (r = .446, p < .001), and competitive anxiety was not related to emotion- focused coping, ( r= .270, p = .804). Regression analyses yielded results suggesting that neuroticism was a negative predictor of emotion-focused coping (b = -.373, p <.001), and competitive anxiety and stress were predictors of dysfunctional coping (b = .120, p < .05; b = .037, p < .05). Competitive anxiety, neuroticism, and stress were not found to be predictors of problem-focused coping. Results demonstrate support for the relationship between competitive anxiety, stress, neuroticism, and coping in Division III student- athletes. Such results warrant future exploration of this largely unstudied population and inform behavioral interventions targeting student-athlete psychosocial stressors in order to promote improved performance, and most importantly, student-athlete well-being.