Use and Effectiveness of Coping with Stress in Sport Among Australian and Indonesian Athletes

The purpose of this study was to determine the most common coping strategies used by Australian and Indonesian competitive athletes and the effectiveness of those strategies following stressful events experienced prior to (pre-game) and during (game) sport competition. Analyses, using 2 × 7 (pre-game) and 2 × 9 (game) MANOVAs, supported the predictions of significant cultural differences on selected measures. In addition, more frequent use of a coping strategy was not necessarily associated with increased perceived effectiveness of that strategy. Australian and Indonesian athletes differed on the perceived effectiveness of these strategies as a function of the type of stressor, and the increased use of selected coping strategies is not necessarily concomitant with heightened effectiveness of using that strategy. Thus, the frequency and perceived effectiveness of using coping strategies appear to be independent.