JOURNAL OF SPORT & EXERCISE PSYCHOLOGY, 1991.

13, 103-120

An In-depth Study of Former Elite Figure Skaters: III.

Sources of Stress

Tara K. Scanlan Gary L. Stein

University of California, Los Angeles University of Oregon
Kenneth Ravizza
California State University, Fullerton

This study examined the sources of stress in elite figure skaters. Twenty-six
former national-championship competitors were interviewed to identify their
stressors during the most competitive phase of their athletic careers. The in-
terviews consisted of open-ended and follow-up questions that provided an
in-depth understanding of the athletes' sources of stress. Inductive content-
analysis procedures established stress categories derived from the athletes'
perspective. Five major sources of stress emerged from the data-negative
aspects of competition, negative significant-other relationships, demands or
costs of skating, personal struggles, and traumatic experiences. The results
demonstrate that (a) elite athletes experience stress from both competition
and noncompetition sources, (b) individual differences exist among elite
athletes' sources of stress, and (c) elite and youth sport athletes have similar
competition-related stressors.

With rare exception, elite athletes experience stress during their long and
arduous pursuit of athletic excellence. It would be difficult for an athlete to
invest so much time and energy into such a demanding endeavor without feeling
some stress or pressure. According to Lazarus and Folkman (1984), individuals
experience stress when they appraise a situation to be taxing or exceeding their
resources and endangering their well-being. The sport psychology literature has
shown that stress experienced by athletes can impede their optimal performance
(e.g., Burton, 1988; Gould, Petlichkoff, Simons, & Vevera, 1987) and their enjoy-
ment of the overall sport experience. 1 However, little empirical research exists
regarding the specific causes of stress in elite athletes. Therefore, this study provides
an in-depth examination into the sources of stress in former elite figure skaters.

Tara K. Scanlan is with the Department of Kinesiology, 2855 Slichter Hall, UCLA,
405 Hilgard Avenue, Los Angeles, CA !XlO24. Gary Stein is with the Department of Physical
Education and Human Movement at the University of Oregon, 171 Esslinger, Eugene,
OR 97403-1273. Kenneth Ravizza is with the Department of Physical Education, Cal State
University, Fullerton, CA 92634.
 104 1 Scanlan, Stein, and Raviua

The extant literature examining the intrapersonal and situational predictors

of stress for youth sport and elite athletes focuses on the stress, or state anxiety,
experienced prior to, during, and following competition. Several sources of
competitive stress have been identified for male and female youth sport athletes
participating in individual and team sport activities (Martens & Gill, 1976; Pierce,
1984; Pierce & Stratton, 1981; Scanlan, 1977; Scanlan & Lewthwaite, 1984;
Scanlan & Passer, 1978, 1979). Specifically, low personal performance expec-
tancies, womes about failing, and high dispositionalanxiety heighten precompe-
tition stress; poor performance increases stress experienced during competition;
and losing, not playing well, and not having fun during the contest elevate post-
competition stress.
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Studies show that male and female junior elite athletes participating in
- -

individual sports experience stress prior to and during competition from somatic
complaints, fear of failure, feelings of inadequacy, loss of control, guilt, high
dispositional anxiety, and social evaluation (Feltz & Albrecht, 1986; Gould, Horn,
& Spreeman, 1983a, 1983b; Kroll, 1980). Surprisingly, no studies exist that in-
vestigate the sources of postcompetition stress within the elite athlete population.
To better understand the elite athlete's sources of stress, we designed this
study using three approaches new to the sport stress literature. First, data were
collected using an oral, open-ended interview. The interview technique allowed
us to extensively probe each source mentioned and obtain a complete, indepth
understanding of the elite athlete's sources of stress. Second, the participants were
instructed to consider the stressors associated with their entire sport experience.
This enabled us to identlfy sources of stress related not only to competition but
also to lessons, practices, skating tests, and relationships with significant others.
Finally, the participants described sources of stress experienced during the most
competitive phase of their careers. This retrospection allowed us to investigate
athletes' enduring sources of stress that remained salient to them through retire-
ment. In sum, these approaches helped identify a comprehensive set of stressors
that came directly from the participants' perspective and that were neither transi-
tory nor limited~exclusive~ to competitive experiences.

Method
Participants
The sample population consisted of 29 former elite figure skaters who met
our two criteria for selection as study participants. Specifically, they had com-
peted at the national championships during their competitive careers and were
currently coaching figure skating in the southern California area. Of the 29 ath-
letes, 26 (90% of the population) agreed to be interviewed. The 15 male and 11
female participants represented figure skating's top three competitive levels. These
levels descend in order of expertise from senior to junior to novice. Most par-
ticipants competed at the senior level (16), with fewer participants being junior
(6) and novice (4) competitors. Eight seniors competed in the world champion-
ships, and 5 of the 8 were Olympians. The participants were between 22 and
49 years of age (M= 35.11, SD=7.78) when interviewed (see Scanlan, Ravizza,
& Stein, 1989, for greater detail concerning the participants).
 Figure Skaters: III. Sources of Stress 1 105

Interview Sequence and Questions

The entire interview schedule was comprised of seven major sections (see
Scanlan et al., 1989). The sources-of-stress phase of the interview followed
(a) a preliminary section that provided an overview of the interview, informed
the participants of two general orienting instructions, and facilitated participant
recall and discussion, and (b) a section that focused on sources of enjoyment.
Before the stress discussion began, we reinforced the two general orienting in-
structions and defined stress for each participant. The first instruction asked the
participants to consider their total skating experiences (e.g., lessons, practices,
tests, competitions, and relationships with other people) when answering the stress
question. This allowed us to elicit sources of stress derived from the entire con-
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text of skating, not just from the competition aspects. The second instruction asked
the participants to focus on sources of stress experienced during the most com-
petitive phase (Phase 3) of their careers. Phase 3 was the time period from novice
level until retirement that was characterized by the participants' greatest com-
mitment to skating (see Scanlan et al., 1989, for a thorough description of Phase
3). All skaters were then read the following definition of stress:
When we discuss stress or pressure now, I am referring to the negative
emotions, feelings, and thoughts that you might have had with respect to your
skating experience. These would include feelings of apprehension, anxiety,
muscle tension, nervousness, physical reactions (such as butterflies in the
stomach, shaking, or nervous sweating), thoughts centered on worry and self-
doubt, and negative statements to yourself.
After making sure the participants understood these instructions and the
stress definition, we asked the following open-ended question to elicit the par-
ticipants' sources of stress:
Thinking back over the various aspects of your skating experience during
the time when you were at Phase 3, again, from novice level until your retire-
ment, what do you recall being the major causes or sources of your stress
pertaining to your skating experience? Again, keep your perspective as a skater
back in Phase 3 and not how you feel now.
After the participants finished describing their sources of stress, they were asked
general probes to elicit any other sources of stress they might have experienced
(e.g., "What other factors caused you stress?").
Specific clarification and elaboration probes had the participants expand
on their responses (Patton, 1980). When the interviewer did not fully understand
what was said, clarification probes induced the participants to repeat and clarify
the source mentioned (e.g., "I'm not sure I understand exactly what you mean.
Would you please go over that again?"). Elaboration probes elicited a complete,
in-depth understanding of what the participants meant concerning each source
mentioned. Elaboration probes were asked after the participants discussed all of
their sources of stress and included (a) "What was it about [specific source] that
made it a cause of stress to you?" and (b) "What was it about [specific source]
that made it a source of stress?" To establish a consistent level of depth across
participants and interviewers, an a priori decision directed interviewers to use
 106 / Scanlan, Stein, and Ravim

a minimum of two elaboration probes per source. The interviewer's discretion

dictated use of any further elaboration probes.
A final, general probe was asked before proceeding with the next section
of the interview to ensure that each participant had discussed all of their sources
of stress (e.g., "Were there any other causes of stress in your skating that we
have not covered?"). Probes followed all new sources of stress mentioned.

Results and Discussion

Inductive Content Analysis and Frequency Data
For the Total Sample
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Two trained researchers independently content analyzed quotes (i-e., raw

data) taken from verbatim transcriptions of the stress discussion. Each quote
represented "a statement made by the subject which was selfdefinable and self-
delimiting in the expression of a single, recognizable aspect of the subject's
experience" (Cloonan, 1971, p. 117). Inductive content-analysis procedures
organized the selected quotes into interpretable and meaningful categories that
emerged directly from participants' own words. To remove potential analyst bias,
consensus-validation procedures were used to select quotes and identify categories.
(Please see Scanlan, Stein, & Ravizza, 1989, for a complete discussion of the
content-analysis and consensus-validation procedures.)
The sources of stress identified by inductive content analysis are displayed
in Figure 1. Figure 1 shows the four higher categories-labeled, in ascending
order, the a h , 112, AIB, and IIII2 theme levels-that emerged from the quotes.
Although these theme levels vary in abstraction, all levels represent sources of
stress; consequently, the terms sources, themes, and catego- are used inter-
changeably when describing the results.
Because the 112, AIB, and IIII levels represent the most interpretative
themes, these levels were chosen for a reliability check. A trained research assis-
tant coded randomly selected quotes into the 112- and NB-level themes and then
categorized the NB-level themes into the IIII-level themes. Reliability was 91 %
(31 out of 343 quotes were correctly coded) and 100% (22 out of 22 AIB-level
themes were correctly coded), respectively.
Counter to the actual inductive content analysis, we present the sources of
stress in descending order of abstraction from the five highest themes down through
the respective lower categories (from right to left in Figure 1)to simplify describ-
ing the results. A percentage showing the frequency with which a source of stress
was mentioned across the total sample (see first column in Table 1) accompanies
descriptions of the IIII- and NB-level themes. As seen in Figure 1 and Table
1, the five highest themes emerging from the inductive content analysis and their
respective percentages across the sample are negative aspects of competition (81%
of total sample), negative significant-other relationships (77 %), demands or costs
of skating (69 %) , personal struggles (65 %), and traumatic experiences (19 %).
Negative Aspects of Competition
The negative aspects of competition category was defined as experiencing
negative thoughts and events associated with the competitive process. This theme
emerged from five lower categories: worries about competition (46% of total
 Figure Skaters: IU. Sources of Stress / 107

ID a/B Url

questioning if I am
worrying about peFfonning poorly
not wanting to let others down if
worries atmul
experiencing competition worries - competition
worrying about the content of
competitors' programs

worrying about what others think and s a d

I
Iosinglnot making nationals
-!
losing to rival 1
experiencing subjective failure
outcomes
falling in front of the c r o w d

C Competitive
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feelinr! that all the work and e f f o q Failure

was not wonh it experiencing subjective failure
feeling that did not do as well as should consequences
have/displeasure with self

skating poorly at practi&l

gctung fatigued and frustrated from
pncucing rouone over and over agaln I - Negarive
Aspecls of

t
feeling a constant need to work hadl Comperirion
improve when training for competition

Preparation
feeling that I wasn't practicing the proper for
amount Competition

striving to meet timetable for making

world/Olympic team -I II
performing one's weak e v e 7
competing in "jinx rink"
Competitive
facing personal hurdles at competition - ~ ~ ~ d l ~
losing control of mental preparation skills

perceiving inordinate importance

perceiving inordinate importance of of competitive event/outcome -
competitive evenr/outcome for others

Figure 1 - The complete inductive content analysis showing all the emergent themes
beyond the quote level. Examining the themes from left to right depicts the inductive
building process. Starting with the arb theme level on the far left, each successive
theme level to the right represents a higher order theme comprised of the themes
on its left. Brackets indicate themes clustering together. Long l i e s represent themes
that were carried directly into a higher inductive level. (cont.)

sample), competitive failure (35%), preparation for competition (27 %), competi-
tive hurdles (23%), and importance of competition (12 %) .
Worries about competition was defined as experiencing mental distress or
agitation concerning one's performance at competition. These womes were about
(a)4 one's preparedness or readiness to perform-"having a few jumps in a pro-
gram that you weren't real sure about . . . you'd worry quite a bit about the
jumps," (b) performing poorly, (c) not wanting to let others down if one per-
formed poorly-"pressure of doing well . . . because I had so many people [in
the skating community] pulling for me. I felt like I would let a lot of people down
 108 / Scanlan, Stein, and Raviua

not getting along with skating peers at r i q

not liking coach's personality/style

1
not getting along with others
having poor communication/interaction
with pairs partner

wanting, but not getting constant praise

from the coach t not getting what I wanted from olhers

+
-
wanting, but not getting pairs partner lo
do what is necessary to excel
t Interpersonal
Conflict
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having parents dictate choices/activities

experiencingconflicting demands between having others tell me what to do
school authorities and coach

having parents opposed LO skating

having to deal wilhlfeeling embarrassed by

mother's negative interaclions with others

sviving to meet parents' expectatioA

expectations
Performance
failing to meet parents' expectatioq Expectations
Negative
failing to meet coaches' expectations
failing to meet skating communities'
expectations t failing to meet others' expectations
- Sign$cant
Other
Relorionships

receiving criticism from parents

1
F
receiving criticism from others
receiving criticism from coach
Performance
receiving precompetitive lectures from Criticism/
mother Lectures

receiving no support from own country t dealing with the p l i h of skating -Skating Politics
having a coach who is a poor p o l i t i c i d

having skating peers at rink play

psychological . a m 4
having competitors' parents play
psychological games
having competilors' coaches
play psychological games
t having others play psychological
games -
PSy c h o l o g i c ~
Warfare

Figure 1 - (cont.)

if I didn't do well," (d) the content of competitors' programs, and (e) what others
would think and say if one performed poorly.
Worrying about not letting others down with a poor performance exemplified
the positive regard some athletes had for members of their family and the skating
community. In fact, it was the supportive, helpful involvement of significant others
that induced these athletes to experience stress (see also Ogdvie, 1983). This worry
is an interesting contrast to the perceptions of negative interactions so commonly
associated with stress.
 Figure Skaters: III. Sources of Stress / 109

feeling that must do well at

feeling that could not waste any time
at practice

not being able to take more skating l e s s 0 4

having to justify money spenton
skating
1I
not being able to buy perfonnance-
enhancing items
not being able to sociafiheep up with
wealthy peen

knowing that we didn't have the money U,

s a d
t1 having limited family financial
resources affect skating
opponunities/experiences

I I
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seeing mom work so hard for the

skating money dealing with family's financial
having rest of family feeling gypped

i
feeling guiltylnot worthy of money spent

putting in the many hoursheavy -

schedule required deating with the extreme time
balancing skating and school
- commitment mvolved in skating

balancing skating and work

- Time
Demands1
training demmJ
having reduced social life due to
missing s w i d o ~ ~ o n u n i t i e d
Costs

wanting to live like an adult, but not being

able to because would detract from skating
m&rationd kxperiences
due to time commitment
J
experiencing the loss of self-esteeq -
feeling inadequate because pairs
parmer quit
losing self-identity from being known in
the family only as "the skater"
Personal Cosu
losing social support due to coaching
change
experiencing fatiguelillness from
ovenraining

Figure 1 - (cont.)

Competitivefailure was defined as being unsuccessful and/or suffering the

related consequences of failure. This category emerged from two lower themes.
The first theme was experiencing subjective-failureoutcomes that included (a) los-
ing or not making nationals-"not making nationals. . . That was one of the .
worst moments of my life. . . . I do not remember . . . that competition. . . . I
just remember the marks coming up . . . standing in this one little room while
they posted these marks. . . . I don't remember how I skated. I just remember
what the overall marks were," (b) losing to a rival-"This was the same boy
that beat me at the Olympic trials. He and I were from the same club. Isn't that
weird? Out of the whole country, out of 200 million people, 50 states, we had
to be from the same damn club," and (c) falling in front of a crowd-"Nobody
likes to go out in front of x thousand people and fall on their face. . . . You don't
want to be seen with your hair messed up or your butt wet, sliding across the ice."
The second theme, experiencing subjective-failure consequences, included
(a) feeling that all the work and effort expended was not worth it, and (b) feeling
 110 / Scanlan, Stein, and Raviua

bemg overweight
having others nag about weight
l- having a weight problem
1
I-
having to sit out and not be part
competition physicY
experiencing the consequences Mental
having injury reduce physical capability of having an injury Diff~cultics
worrying about amount of time
for recove
skating with a fear of getting hurt

F
questioning physical ability to beat
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svonger questioning physicaVpsychologicaI

questioning mental toughness to be capabilities to succeed at higher
competitive levels
- , " ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ , " ~
a champion

trying w live up to personal standards

of perfection Perfectionism

Personal
-
having a personal fear of becoming gay
1 Struggles

having paren& reinforce fear of

minggay 1 1
having a fear of becoming gay

being stigmatized as gay by schoolmates

J
being afraid &hat others will discover
that gay
t Dealing with
Homosexuality

not being able to make desired coaching Undesired

change Coach

repeatedly evaluating whether to continue Commitment

competitive skating career to Skating

beginning career too late to excel

1
having a disturbed parenVfamily unit
Experiences

having significant others die h a d

Figure 1 - (cont.)
that one did not do as well as one should have, or feeling displeasure with
oneself-"You've practiced and practiced and then you get out there and you
just don't skate well. Why put in all that time and give up things, you know,
and then go out and blow it?"
Preparationfor competition was defined as having to constantly work hard,
improve, and/or strive to meet a personal timetable when readying oneself for
competition. The skaters' knowledge of their competitors' routines fueled these
relentless effort, improvement, and time demands even further. Two lower themes
comprised this category: (1) feeling a constant need to work hard or improve
when training for competition, which involved the demands incurred from skat-
ing poorly at practice, getting fatigued and frustrated from doing the routine over
and over again ("You're ready to fall on your face at the end of that 20 minutes
or half an hour that she [my coach] keeps putting that tape back on. . . . Yeah,
it was stamina and frustration . . . the stamina wears down and you can't do it,
 Figure Skaters: m.Sources of Stress / 111

Table 1
Percentage and Number of Participants Within Each Source of Stress
for the Complete Sample and Separated by Skaters' Competitive Level

Samplea No~./jun.~ Senior World/Oly.*

Source of stress % No. Oo
/ No. % No. % No.
pp --

I. Negative aspects of competition 81 21" 33 7 29 6 38 8

A. Worries about competition 4612 25 3 42 5 33 4
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B. Competitive failure 35 9 56 5 22 2 22 2
C. Preparationfor competition 27 7 29 2 14 1 57 4
D. Competitive hurdles 23 6 33 2 17 1 50 3
E. Importance of competition 12 3 33 1 33 1 33 1
It. Negative significant-other relationships 77 20 35 7 35 7 30 6
A. Interpersonalconflict 4612 50 6 25 3 25 3
B. Performance expectations 27 7 14 1 57 4 29 2
C. Performance criticism or lectures 23 6 33 2 33 2 33 2
D. Skating politics 23 6 17 1 33 2 50 3
E. Psychological warfare 15 4 25 1 50 2 25 1
Ill. Demands or costs of skating 69 18 39 7 33 6 28 5
A. Financial demands or costs 4211 45 5 36 4 18 2
8.Time demands or costs 31 8 37 3 25 2 37 3
C. Personal costs 23 6 33 2 50 3 17 1
IV. Personal struggles 65 17 41 7 29 5 29 5
A. Physical or mental difficulties 23 6 33 2 17 1 50 3
B. Self-doubts about talent 15 4 25 1 50 2 25 1
C. Perfectionism 12 3 33 1 33 1 33 1
D. Dealing with homosexuality 8 2 5 0 1 0 0 5 0 1
E. Undersired coach 8 2 0 0 5 0 1 5 0 1
F. Commitment to skating 4 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
G. Limited time frame 4 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
V. Traumatic experiences 19 5 40 2 40 2 20 1
A. Family disturbances 1 2 3 3 3 1 6 7 2 0 0
B. Death 8 2 5 0 1 0 0 5 0 1

Note. The sample percentage values equal the number of skaters identifying the source of
stress divided by the total sample of 26. Percentages in the second, third, and fourth columns
are derived from the number of participants within a competitive level who identifiedthe source
divided by the total number of participants who mentioned the source.
aN=26; b N ~ ~ . / j ~ n . = n ~ ~ i ~ N=10;
e / j ~ n"N=8;
i o r , dWorldlO1y=world/O1ympic, N=8; "The Illl-level
percentages are less than the AIB-level percentage sums because participants mentioning
morethan one AIB-leveltheme wereonly countedonce for the correspondinglevelpercentage.

so it's like walking backwards instead of walking frontwards"), having to keep

up with or stay ahead of practice partners, and feeling that one was not practic-
ing the proper amount, and (2) striving to meet one's personal timetable for making
the world or Olympic team while facing strict objective deadlines.
Competitivehurdles was defined as facing objective and/or subjective obsta-
cles that could hinder good performance at competition. The competitive hurdles
to be overcome were (a) performing one's weak event, be it freestyle or figures-
 112 / Scanlan, Stein, and Raviua

"I didn't feel accomplished in that part of the skating. . . . Freestyle was a lot
more work for me," and "I had a lot of stress on figures because . . . for a long
time I wasn't very good at them," (b) competing in one's "jinx rink," (c) skat-
ing in front of people, and (d) losing control of mental-preparation skills.
Performing one's weak event and skating in front of others reflect two fore-
seeable, yet unavoidable (cf. Elkind, 1986), competition stressors. Competitive
demands dictate that skaters must perform both figures and freestyle events and
that they do so in the presence of judges and spectators. (Note: The rules pertain-
ing to the scoring of figures have changed since these data were collected.)
Importance of competition was defined as recognizing the magnitude of what
the competitive event or outcome could mean to oneself and others. The com-
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petitive event or outcome could be, for example, either attaining a national title
or participating in the Olympic Games. The importance of a competitive event
or outcome was both self-imposed and related to other people-"Well, you're
going for national titles, and . . . you're thinking of those being part of your
career. That's what you're going to look back at someday, and . . . you're try-
ing to build your career and hopefully get a . . . good show offer from that, and
credentials for teaching, and . . . a reputation that you're gonna have a lifetime."
Negative Signi$cant-Other Relationships
The negative significant-other relationships theme was defined as having
difficult and unpleasant interactions with peer and adult significant others. The
five underlying themes comprising this category were interpersonal c d c t (46%),
performance expectations (27 %), performance criticism or lectures (23%), skat-
ing politics (23 %), and psychological warfare (15%).
Znterpersonul conflict was defined as experiencing discord between one-
self and significant others. Typically, this discord involved parents, coaches, and
skating peers. This category was comprised of five lower themes: (1) not getting
along with others, which included not getting along with skating peers at the rink,
not liking the coach's personality or style ("He was very, very domineering and
very, very pushy. Extremely domineering. And he wanted to run my whole life.
And there were times . . . in my career where the skating didn't bother me at
all, it was the dominance of the coach trying to control what I ate, who I talked
to"), and having poor communication with one's pairs partner, (2) not getting
what one wanted from others, such as acceptance by skating peers at the rink
("I never felt like I was in with the skaters. I was always out . . . a loner. I always
felt l i e I wasn't in the group. But I did care about being in with the skating group,
my peers at that point"), constant praise from the coach, and one's pairs partner
doing what was necessary to excel, (3) having others tell one what to do, which
included having parents dictate choices or activities and experiencing conflicting
demands between school authorities and the coach, (4) having parents opposed
to skating-"My parents wanted different things than for me to be a skater the
rest of my life. . . . I was to grow up to be a doctor or a lawyer. I wasn't to
grow up to do what I'm doing," and "the fights I used to have with my father
over skating. . . . I always felt my father was very much against my skating.
I just felt it. He thought it was a waste of time," and (5) having to deal with,
or feeling embarrassed by, one's mother's negative interactions with others-
"the way she got along with other people. . . . She always bragged to people
 Figure Skaters: III. Sources of Stress / 113

that she didn't care who she stepped on as long as she got what she wanted, and
she stepped . . . a lot. . . . It was a little embarrassing to me."
Though adolescents typically experience some interpersonal conflict with
significant others when growing up (Hall, 1987; Montemayor, 1983), two themes
demonstrate the potentially devastating effect this conflict can have on an adolescent
skater. First, with their time commitment minimizing the chances for making
friends outside of skating (see Scanlan, Ravizza, & Stein, 1989), those athletes
lacking acceptance by skating peers at the rink are left feeling alone and friend-
less. Second, having parents opposed to skating leaves these participants striving
to achieve without parental support or encouragement.
Perfomnce expectations was defined as striving to meet and/or failing
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to meet a level of performance set by significant others. This theme consisted

of the following two categories: (1) striving to meet the expectations of parents,
coaches, and unspecified others-"My parents had high standards for me. And
in that sense, I tried to live up to the standards that I think they had set for me.
I felt like they really expected me to do perfect," and (2) failing to meet the ex-
pectations of parents, coaches, and the skating community-"I could never give
enough. . . . I would try as hard as I could, but it wouldn't be enough."
As depicted in the quotes above, most skaters discussed striving or failing
to meet exceedingly high expectations set by significant others. One participant,
however, focused on his failure to achieve his coach's realistic expectations that
reflected the high performance levels required to be competitive as an elite skater.
Perfomnce criticism or lectures was defined as receiving negative perfor-
mance feedback and/or getting a precompetitive lecture from others. Generally,
the performance feedback and precompetitive lectures were given in a harangu-
ing and nagging fashion. Two lower themes made up this category: (1) receiving
performance criticism from parents and/or coaches that typically occurred on a
daily basis-"the day to day lecture that I got from my mother on the way home in
the car. I used to just sit there in silence and just think, 'Why doesn't she shut up?'
And it would just continue on and on and on . . . you've got to start moving more,
et cetera, et cetera," and (2) getting precompetitive lectures from one's mother.
Skating politics was defined as being involved in the artful and often dis-
honest activities accompanying elite figure skating. These characteristicallyunder-
handed practices can greatly affect performance outcome because of the subjective
nature of judging skating competitions. Skating politics included receiving biased
judging ("The club I represented was not a first-class club. And because I didn't
represent a first-class club, judges held that against me. And they were slightly
prejudiced in their judging of me"), receiving no support from one's own country,
and having a coach who was a poor politician.
Psychological warfare was defined as being subjected to the mind games
used by others to undermine self-esteem and/or performance. These purposeful
and nasty games are used to help obtain an advantage over an opponent. Mind
games were played by skating peers, competitors' parents, and even competitors'
coaches-"They [skating peers] made it difficult to practice; they played mind
games with you. . . . This one girl one day came in and she was just obnoxious,
evil, rotten, basically a witch. . . . You just hear all these little rumors that were
started about you," and "Some of the parents that used to hang around the rink
where their kids skated . . . backstabbed me all the time."
 114 1 Scanlan, Stein, and R a v i m

Demands or Costs of Skating

The demands or costs of skating theme was defined as paying the price
of being an elite figure skater. This theme emerged from three lower categories:
financial demands or costs (42%), time demands or costs (31 %), and personal
costs (23%).
Financial demands or costs was defined as feeling the enormous monetary
drain required to be a national-level figure skater. considering skaters' many
years of commitment and the amount of money expended annually (estimated
cost equals $20,000-$30,000 per year), the continuous financial burden facing
these athletes and their parents was staggering. This category emerged from the
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following three themes: (1) having to justify money being spent on skating by
such things as having to do well at competition and feeling that one could not
waste any time at practice-"knowing that my mother and father worked very
hard to put me through skating and pay for the ice time and the lessons and all.
I would always go back and think about the money they were spending and how
hard they were working to do it, . . . knowing that I'd better work as hard as
I can and not waste a minute of my time," (2) having limited family financial
resources affect skating opportunities and experiences, such as not being able
to take more skating lessons, not being able to buy performance-enhancing items,
and not being able to socialize or keep up with wealthy peers, and (3) experienc-
ing the family's financial sacrifice, which included (a) knowing that the money
was not there to spend-"My family was always under financial burdens, sacrific-
ing everything so I could skate. We didn't have the money, and things were go-
ing really bad, and it was like . . . caused a lot of tension, you know. We haven't
got the money. How else are you gonna make your house payment? Or, you don't
know how you're going to pay for the coach for lessons or whatever," (b) seeing
one's mother work so hard for the skating money, (c) having the family feel
gypped, and (d) feeling guilty about, or not worthy of, the money spent.
The stress experienced from skating's financial demands or costs was both
externally driven and self-imposed. Although some skaters felt pressure from
parents who would explicitly detail and remind them of the exorbitant amount
of money spent on skating (see Ogilvie, 1983), other skaters felt stress from just
knowing how much money was required to skate.
Time demands or costs was defined as experiencing the immense time com-
mitment required to be a national-level figure skater. Skating an average of 5- 1I2
hours per day, 6 days per week, 50 weeks per year not o d y is exhausting but
leaves little time for school, work, and a social life. This category emerged from
two underlying themes: (1) dealing with the extreme time commitment involved
in skating, such as putting in the many hours required, balancing skating and
school, and balancing skating and work-"I was getting very tired of working
nights and skating days," and (2) missing social opportunities or maturational
experiences due to an immense time commitment, which included having a reduced
social life due to training demands and wanting to live like an adult but not being
able to because this would detract from skating.
This latter theme demonstrates the stressful nature of feeling chained to skat-
ing. Participants experienced stress because there was not sufficienttime to skate
and experience those basics associated with normal adolescent or young-adult
development, such as having a boyfriend or girlfriend or living independently.
 Figure Skaters: III. Sources of Stress / 115

Personal costs was defined as losing one's sense of self-worth or identity,

social support, and/or health. This category evolved from the following three
themes: (1) losing one's sense of self-worth or identity due to the loss of self-
esteem, feeling inadequate because pairs partners quit, and being referred to by
the family when talking to their friends as "the skater'' versus by name, (2) losing
social support due to a coaching change-"I felt very alone because when I
switched teachers, I lost friends," and (3) experiencing fatigue and illness from
overtraining.

Personal Struggles
The personal struggles theme was defined as waging internal battles fraught
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with agony and turmoil. Seven underlying themes comprised this category: physi-
cal or mental difficulties (23%), self-doubts about talent (15%), perfectionism
(12 %), dealing with homosexuality (8 %), undesired coach (8%), commitment
to skating (4%), and limited time frame (4%).
Physical or mental dificulties was defined as fighting a weight and/or an
injury problem, and/or fearing injury. This category emerged from three themes:
(1) having a weight problem, which included being overweight ("being over-
weight. . . . If I was light, I was right. And if I was overweight, hey, forget
it. . . . One of the biggest negative things was always having to be on a
diet . . . and the more pressure, the more you'd want to eat. . . . the anxiety
and nervousness over the fact that you might be too fat") and having others nag
about weight, (2) experiencing the consequences of having an injury, such as hav-
ing to sit out of a competition, having the injury reduce physical capability, and
worrying about the amount of time needed for recovery, and (3) skating with
a fear of getting hurt-"It's always sort of in the back of your mind that, you
know, you are doing a dangerous sport. You have these blades on with these
toe-picks that are dangerous. "
Self-doubts about talent was defined as experiencing a lack of confidence
in one's physical and/or mental abilities to compete and succeed amid stiffer com-
petition as one moves upward through skating's competitive levels. The athletes
questioned their physical abilities ("When I went up the higher events [competi-
tive levels], I wasn't as successful. . . . And I think I started having self-doubts
that I wasn't that good, but I had gone as far as I could at that point. Maybe
these other boys were just better and could go farther") and mental toughness
to become or remain a successful figure skater ("And when I would come to,
say, a stumbling block and it took so much effort to get over it, I began to think,
'Gosh, I don't have what it takes to be a champion.' Physically, I did. You know,
physically I think that if it just came down just to skating, I could have gone to
the Olympics. But that's not what it takes. And so I didn't think that I had all
those little aspects that came in to making a champion").
Pe$ectionism was defined as perceiving the need to skate flawlessly and
not being able to accept anything less than an error-free performance. Figure
skating's perfectionist requirements (e.g., having to skate exactly over a figure
eight drawn on the ice during the compulsory figures) feeds this need to be
perfect-"I was a perfectionist . . . that's probably the hardest thing; I was just
a perfectionist all the time. . . . I would never accept myself not doing it per-
fectly," and "that expectation that you had to be perfect. . . . I didn't give my-
 116 1 Scanlan, Stein, and Raviua

self any leeway . . . but the way I thought back then was . . . I had to be perfect
every single time. You can't make a mistake."
A closer examination of perfectionism highlights an important distinction.
Skaters feeling the need to skate flawlessly experienced stress, but skaters striving
for perfection experienced enjoyment (Scanlan, Stein, & Ravizza, 1989).
Dealing with homosexuality was defined as having a fear of becoming gay
and/or coming to grips with being gay while progressing through adolescence.
This category evolved from two themes: (1) having a fear of becoming gay, which
was played out by having a personal fear of becoming gay, having parents rein-
force this fear of becoming gay, and being stigmatized as gay by schoolmates-
"But I do think that you can be a male skater and not be [homosexual] in that
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context, but at the time I wasn't as sure. Ah, I mean, is this [becoming gay] going
to happen in me if I kept going in skating?" and (2) being afraid that others will
discover that one is homosexual.
Though only two male participants mentioned this homosexuality theme,
our background interviews suggested that most male figure skaters must deal with
the established stereotype depicting male skaters as gay or about to become gay
sometime during their careers. Unfortunately, many significant others such as
parents and schoolmates perpetuate this misconception.
Undesired coach was defined as not being able to change coaches due to
loyalty or a lack of money. Taking lessons from an undesired coach can produce
intense hostility between the skater and the coach-"And there were times in
my career when I'd get into the car and drive away from the rink and say the
only way I can get out of this situation is if he dies. And I can't leave him because
he's the best coach for me. I can't get another coach because I couldn't hurt him.
I don't know if I should get another coach. Maybe if he dies or I die, I could
be out of this situation."
Commitment to skating was defined as facing an often-recurring personal-
decision process focused on whether competitive figure skating was worth the
price being paid-"So was it worth all the anxiety of the school, the teachers,
and then my parents getting involved in it? . . . For quite a few months, it's like,
I was always thinking about it."
Limited timeframe was defined as having one's potential success impeded
because of the time at which one began skating. The one athlete identifying this
stressor began skating as a teenager, which is comparatively late considering most
skaters begin skating at around 8 years of age (Scanlan, Ravizza, & Stein, 1989).
This skater felt that no matter how much effort was expended, the lost time could
never be made up-"The thoughts that I had started late . . . too late to really
be as good as people who were on the world and Olympic teams. And that no
matter how hard I worked, and how talented I was, and I, you know, was very
talented, I could never make up for that time that I didn't skate."
Traumatic Experiences
The traumatic experiences category was defined as suffering extreme, nega-
tive life events. This category emerged from two themes: family disturbances
(12%) and death (8%).
Family disturbances was defined as having a volatile family life at home.
Typically, a volatile family life reflected extreme problems such as having a
neurotic or alcoholic parent-"My mother was fairly neurotic. She had a tendency
 Figure Skaters: III. Sources of Stress / 117

to hit me. . . . that was a problem, corning to grips with that woman, you know.
I was growing up and dealing with her because she was my mother."
Death was defined as experiencing others' loss of life. An example was
the tragic 1961 plane crash that killed the entire United States national figure
skating team-"That was a real traumatic experience for me because I had a lot
of friends on that team."

Frequency Data for Competitive-Skating Level Subgroups

A frequency analysis supplemented the sources of stress identified by the
inductive content analysis. First, we separated the participants into three sub-
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groups based on their highest competitive-skating level achieved. The three groups
were (a) noviceljunior skaters who competed in the national championships at
the novice or junior levels but not at the senior level, (b) senior skaters who com-
peted in the national championships at the senior level but did not qualify for
the world or Olympic teams, and (c) world1Olympic skaters who competed in
the national championships at the senior level and finished in the top three, which
qualified them to compete on the world or Olympic teams. Then we calculated
the percentage of times each group mentioned the IIII- and AIB-level themes.
Two patterns became apparent when comparing the percentages and the
actual number of participants identifying the stressors shown in Table 1. First,
the I/II- and AIB-level themes were evenly distributed across the three groups.
Therefore, regardless of the competitive-skating level achieved, these athletes
experienced stress from a diversity of sources. Second, a greater percentage of
the noviceljunior competitors mentioned the competitive-failure (56%) and
interpersonal-conflict (50 %) themes when compared with the senior competitors
(22 % ,25 % ,respectively) and world/Olympic team members (22 % ,25 % ,respec-
tively). Because these noviceljunior skaters did not advance to compete at the
senior level, they probably encountered greater incidents of competitive failure,
which in turn could have created more conflict with significant others.

General Discussion
The interviews revealed a wide range of stressors that cut across the entire
sport environment. The skaters experienced stress from worries, perceptions, and
events directly related to competition (negative aspects of competition) as well
as from stressors falling outside the competition milieu (negative significant-other
relationships, demands or costs of skating, personal struggles, and traumatic
experiences). Further, the noncompetition-specificsources encompassed both daily
hassles and major life events (cf. Lazarus & Folkrnan, 1984). For example,
stressors such as time demands or costs, performance criticisms or lectures, and
perfectionism typify daily hassles producing frequent stress episodes; death and
family disturbances characterize major life events inducing intense stress experi-
ences. In sum, these findings strongly demonstrate that a comprehensive under-
standing of an elite athlete's stressors requires consideration of the totality of his
or her sport experience.
The sources of stress identified in this study provide further evidence that
individual differences exist between elite athletes' specific stressors (Feltz &
Albrecht, 1986; Gould et al., 1983b). The frequency data indicate that less than
 118 / Scanlan, Stein, and Raviua

half of the sample identified any one given stressor in common at the A/B level
(sample percentages range from 4 to 46%). Moreover, comparing the skaters'
sources of stress and enjoyment (see Scanlan, Stein, & Ravizza, 1989) reveals
that a particular event (e.g., performing in front of an audience) can produce
stress for some athletes and enjoyment for others.
Finally, the results show that elite and youth sport athletes have similar
competition-related stressors: namely, worrying about failure, performing poor-
ly, and losing. The extant stress literature's exclusive focus on competition leaves
future research to determine whether the elite athlete's stressors outside of com-
petition (e.g., interpersonal conflict, time and financial demands or costs, per-
fectionism) generalize to youth sport athletes.
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Notes
'In this study, the athletes' overall stress and enjoyment ratings had a moderate
negative correlation (r= - .49).
2The alb, 112, AIB, and I/II category names are nontechnical terms used only to
enhance the reader's comprehension by supplying labels for each level of analysis.
'We trained the assistant using 17 quotes, or 10% of the 171 quotes comprising
the raw data. The 34 quotes used for the reliability check represent greater than 20% of
the remaining 154 quotes.
4The (a), (b), (c)l(l), (2), (3) in the results section correspond to theme levels in
Figure 1.

Acknowledgments
This research was supported by three sources of funding to T.K. Scanlan: The
Amateur Athletic Foundation of Los Angeles, UCLA Academic Senate Grant 3188, and
research monies from the former Dean of Life Sciences at UCLA (J.D. O'Comor). Dean
O'Comor is sincerely thanked for providing the criticalinitial funding to launch this project.
We extend sincere appreciation to those individuals from the skating community
and UCLA who provided invaluable help with this project. From the skating community,
 120 / Scanlan, Stein, and Raviua

we thank the 26 participants and Don Bartelson, Patrick Brault, Dorian Shields Carroll,
Frank Carroll, Jennie Walsh Gutzman, and Barbara Roles Williams. From UCLA, we
thank our qualitative methods consultants, Eve Fielder and Harold Levine; our research
assistants, Heather Benes, Paul Carpenter, Karen Cogan, Bruce Keeler, Alvin Lamarre,
Carla Premack, and Sue Prentzel; our interview transcriber, Chris Rehr; and Marci Lobel
for her insightful input on an earlier draft of this article.

Manuscript submitted: March 2, 1990

Revision received: August 23, 1990
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ISCPES '92
8th Conference of the International Society for Comparative
Physical Education and Sport
June 12-18'1992
University of Houston
"Sport in the Global Village:
Comparative Perspectives"
Deadline for receipt of abstracts (300-word maximum, in English) is
November 30, 1991. For more information write to ISCPES '92, Univer-
sity of Houston, TX 77204-533 1, USA.