2019 Marathon of Rome: Relationship Between Resilience and Coping Strategies in 682 Runners

The aim of this study was to evaluate, in runners participating in the 2019 Rome Marathon, the interaction between resilience and coping and how they are influenced by sex, age, body weight, height, number of weekly training sessions, and the time of the last marathon.

Cross-sectional study.

The 2019 Marathon of Rome.

Six hundred eighty-two athletes (513 men and 169 women; mean age: 47.7 ± 10.6 years, range 19-80 years).

Runners filled in the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale and Athletic Coping Skills Inventory (ACSI) questionnaires. Statistical analyses were performed by means of the Shapiro-Wilk test, the Mann-Whitney U test, the Kruskal-Wallis test and the Spearman rho. An a priori power analysis was calculated.

Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (for resilience) and ACSI (for coping) questionnaires.

Overall, 682 athletes (513 men and 169 women; mean age: 47.7 ± 10.6 years; mean weight: 70.2 ± 9.6 kg; mean height: 172.8 ± 7.5 cm; mean BMI 23.5 ± 2.5) were included. A statistically significant positive correlation was found between resilience and coping (rho = 0.49 and P < 0.001). No statistically significant difference was found in resilience and coping according to sex, age, BMI, and impact profile (number of training sessions per week). No statistically significant correlations were observed between resilience and performance (ie, last marathon time) and between coping and performance (rho = 0.02 and P = 0.565, rho = 0.04 and P = 0.316; respectively).

Higher levels of resilience correspond with higher levels of coping in adult marathon runner athletes. These factors/characteristics do not correlate with marathon times (sports performance). Physical or demographic features do not influence resilience and coping strategies in adult athletes.