Perceived psychological stressors in female age-specific national team players

Sæther, SA, Butt, J ORCID: 0000-0002-0477-894X, Eubank, M ORCID: 0000-0002-9696-0537, Mehus, I, Høigaard, R and Aspvik, NP (2026) Perceived psychological stressors in female age-specific national team players. Frontiers in Psychology, 17. ISSN 1664-1078

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Abstract

Introduction – Psychological stressors have become a natural part of the process of developing skills in talent development environments of youth athletes. However, there is little research on psychological stressors among talented female athletes and how this is impacted by an athletes’ perfectionism. This study investigated how female national team players in football, handball, and ice-hockey in Norway (controlled for age, sport, overload injury and playing time) experienced perceived psychological stressors (PPS) and how the two perfectionism dimensions - evaluative concerns (EC) and personal strivings (PS) impact on PPS. Methods – The sample in this study was 145 female (Handball 27%, Ice-Hockey 43% and Football 30%) players selected to an age-specific national team of U16-U19 (M = 16.01, SD = 1.19). Cronbach’s alpha was calculated to test the scale reliability of the factors; PPS (α = 0.88), EC (α = 0.84), PS (α = 0.78). A linear regression analysis was conducted with PPS as the dependent variable. Results – The linear regression analysis with PPS as the dependent variable, with the independent variables EC, PS, self-reported playing time, OI and age, explained 25% of the variance in PPS and was statistically significant (p < 0.001). EC (p < 0.01) and OI (p < 0.05) had a significant positive association with PPS. Handball players scored significantly lower on PPS compared with ice-hockey players (p < 0.01) and football players (p < 0.05). There was however no significant difference in PS, age, and playing time on PPS. Discussion – The current study highlights the importance of key stakeholders being aware that athletes who score high on EC are more vulnerable to everyday stress, and that athletes are particularly vulnerable to stress when they are injured.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	age; evaluative concerns; personal strivings; playing time; stressors; 32 Biomedical and Clinical Sciences; 52 Psychology; 1701 Psychology; 1702 Cognitive Sciences; 32 Biomedical and clinical sciences; 52 Psychology
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GV Recreation Leisure > GV561 Sports
Divisions:	Sport and Exercise Sciences
Publisher:	Frontiers Media SA
Date of acceptance:	14 May 2026
Date of first compliant Open Access:	14 July 2026
Date Deposited:	14 Jul 2026 14:34
Last Modified:	14 Jul 2026 14:34
DOI or ID number:	10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1803701
URI:	https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/29013

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