The approach-avoidance framework for identifying athletes' coping style as a function of gender and race

The purpose of this study was to identify the coping styles of competitive athletes as a function of gender and race in response to events experienced during the contest perceived as highly stressful using the approach and avoidance coping framework. Participants (N = 218) consisted of 111 males (48 African American and 63 Caucasian) and 107 females (41 African American and 66 Caucasian), and ranged in age from 18 to 54 yrs (M +/- SD; 22.29 +/- 3.9 yrs). They attended a university in the southeastern US, and were considered highly skilled athletes based on their current or former participation as competitive athletes. A 12-item inventory was completed consisting of six approach coping and six avoidance coping strategy items. Confirmatory factor analysis, composite reliability and Cronbach's alpha indicated acceptable model-data fit and internal scale consistency. The results suggested the athletes' preferred coping style was avoidance, rather than approach. A 2 x 2 ANOVA showed significant main effects for gender (p = 0.003) and race (p < 0.01); males used more approach coping than females, while Caucasians applied more approach coping than African Americans. No significant interaction was found. The results indicated the need for future study on examining gender and race as moderating variables in examining athletes' coping styles.