The role of responses to self-critical thoughts in the relationship between perfectionism and distress in Finnish Competitive Athletes

Competitive sports nowadays require incredible determination, as well as high physical and psychological effort. Athletes experience stress from various sources, such as competitions, clubs, organizations, and personal life. The high demands of the sports environment often contribute to negative out...

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Main Author: Syrykh, Inna
Other Authors: Liikuntatieteellinen tiedekunta, Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences, Jyväskylän yliopisto, University of Jyväskylä
Format: Master's thesis
Language:eng
Published: 2025
Subjects:
Online Access: https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/103469
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author Syrykh, Inna
author2 Liikuntatieteellinen tiedekunta Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences Jyväskylän yliopisto University of Jyväskylä
author_facet Syrykh, Inna Liikuntatieteellinen tiedekunta Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences Jyväskylän yliopisto University of Jyväskylä Syrykh, Inna Liikuntatieteellinen tiedekunta Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences Jyväskylän yliopisto University of Jyväskylä
author_sort Syrykh, Inna
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description Competitive sports nowadays require incredible determination, as well as high physical and psychological effort. Athletes experience stress from various sources, such as competitions, clubs, organizations, and personal life. The high demands of the sports environment often contribute to negative outcomes for the mental wellbeing of athletes. Perfectionism has been found as one of the significant predictors of such psychological issues, as anxiety, depression, burnout, eating disorders, and general distress in athletes. Multidimensional model of perfectionism (Stoeber & Otto, 2006) includes perfectionistic strivings, which tend to be more adaptive, and perfectionistic concerns, which are usually viewed as maladaptive. However, the relationship between perfectionism and distress is most likely to be indirect and includes mechanisms that either increase or buffer stress. One of the facets of perfectionistic concerns is excessive self-criticism, which can be responded to with self-compassionate and kind thoughts, or alternatively with rumination and avoidance. These reactions are defined as responses to self-critical thoughts and can be categorized as flexible and inflexible. One of the possible mediators between perfectionism and distress is responses to self-critical thoughts. The thesis aimed to examine whether responses to self-critical thoughts affect the relationship between perfectionistic concerns and distress. Furthermore, it aimed to examine whether there are gender differences in perfectionism, distress, and responses to self-critical thoughts. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 77 participants, all Finnish competitive athletes (mean age 24.1). Athletes were recruited from team and individual sports, with competition levels ranging from local to national. The MIPS and MPS-2 were used to assess dimensions of perfectionism, FoReST measured responses to self-critical thoughts, and DASS was used to measure distress. Hierarchical regression analysis was performed to identify how perfectionistic concerns and responses to self-critical thoughts predict distress, as well as to explore the effect of gender on this relationship. ANOVA was performed to explore gender differences. The results of hierarchical regression analysis indicated that perfectionistic strivings, concerns, and responses to self-critical thoughts together explained 40% of the variance in distress, with responses to self-critical thoughts accounting for 8%. In this model, only responses to self-critical thoughts emerged as a significant predictor of distress. This finding supported that responses to self-critical thoughts affect the relationship between perfectionism and distress. Females scored higher in perfectionistic strivings, concerns, and distress, while males indicated more flexible responses to self-critical thoughts. Gender did not significantly affect the relationship between perfectionism and distress. Interventions aimed at enhancing flexibility in responses to self-critical thoughts may help reduce distress in perfectionistic athletes. Kilpaurheilu nykypäivänä vaatii poikkeuksellista määrätietoisuutta sekä huomattavaa fyysistä ja psyykkistä ponnistelua. Urheilijat kokevat stressiä useista eri lähteistä, kuten kilpailuista, seuroista, organisaatioista ja henkilökohtaisesta elämästä. Urheiluympäristön korkeat vaatimukset voivat usein johtaa kielteisiin seurauksiin urheilijoiden mielenterveyden kannalta. Perfektionismi on tunnistettu yhdeksi merkittäväksi tekijäksi psykologisten ongelmien, kuten ahdistuksen, masennuksen, uupumuksen, syömishäiriöiden ja yleisen psyykkisen kuormittuneisuuden taustalla urheilijoilla. Perfektionismin moniulotteinen malli (Stoeber & Otto, 2006) sisältää perfektionistiset pyrkimykset, joita pidetään yleensä adaptiivisempina, sekä perfektionistiset huolet, joita pidetään pääsääntöisesti haitallisina. Perfektionismin ja psyykkisen kuormittuneisuuden välinen suhde on todennäköisesti epäsuora ja sisältää mekanismeja, jotka joko lisäävät tai lieventävät stressiä. Yksi perfektionististen huolien osa-alueista on liiallinen itsekriittisyys, johon voidaan vastata myötätuntoisilla ja lempeillä ajatuksilla tai vaihtoehtoisesti ruminaatiolla ja välttelyllä. Näitä reaktioita kutsutaan itsekriittisiin ajatuksiin vastaamiseksi, ja ne voidaan jaotella joustaviin ja joustamattomiin, toimien mahdollisena välittäjänä perfektionismin ja psyykkisen kuormittuneisuuden välillä. Tämän pro gradu -tutkielman tavoitteena oli tarkastella, vaikuttavatko itsekriittisiin ajatuksiin vastaamisen tavat perfektionististen huolien ja psyykkisen kuormittuneisuuden väliseen suhteeseen, sekä selvittää sukupuolieroja perfektionismissa, psyykkisessä kuormittuneisuudessa ja itsekriittisiin ajatuksiin vastaamisessa. Tutkimus toteutettiin poikkileikkausasetelmalla, ja siihen osallistui 77 suomalaista kilpaurheilijaa (keski-ikä 24,1). Urheilijat rekrytoitiin joukkuelajeista ja yksilölajeista, ja heidän kilpailutasonsa vaihteli paikalliselta tasolta kansalliselle tasolle. Perfektionismin ulottuvuuksia mitattiin MIPS- ja MPS-2-kyselyillä, itsekriittisiin ajatuksiin vastaamista FoReST-mittarilla ja psyykkistä kuormittuneisuutta DASS-mittarilla. Hierarkkinen regressioanalyysi suoritettiin sen selvittämiseksi, kuinka perfektionistiset huolet ja itsekriittisiin ajatuksiin vastaaminen ennustavat psyykkistä kuormittuneisuutta, sekä sukupuolen vaikutuksen arvioimiseksi tähän suhteeseen. Sukupuolieroja tarkasteltiin ANOVA-analyysin avulla. Hierarkkinen regressioanalyysi osoitti, että perfektionistiset pyrkimykset, huolet ja itsekriittisiin ajatuksiin vastaaminen selittivät yhteensä 40 % psyykkisen kuormittuneisuuden vaihtelusta, josta 8 % selittyi itsekriittisiin ajatuksiin vastaamisella. Tässä mallissa vain itsekriittisiin ajatuksiin vastaaminen oli tilastollisesti merkitsevä psyykkisen kuormittuneisuuden ennustaja, mikä tukee sen vaikutusta perfektionismin ja psyykkisen kuormittuneisuuden väliseen suhteeseen. Naiset saivat korkeammat pisteet perfektionistisissa pyrkimyksissä, huolissa ja psyykkisessä kuormittuneisuudessa, kun taas miehet raportoivat joustavampia tapoja vastata itsekriittisiin ajatuksiin. Sukupuolella ei kuitenkaan ollut tilastollisesti merkitsevää vaikutusta perfektionismin ja psyykkisen kuormittuneisuuden väliseen suhteeseen. Interventiot, jotka tähtäävät vastaamisen joustavuuden vahvistamiseen, voivat auttaa vähentämään kuormittuneisuutta perfektionistisilla urheilijoilla.
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spellingShingle Syrykh, Inna The role of responses to self-critical thoughts in the relationship between perfectionism and distress in Finnish Competitive Athletes Master's Degree Programme in Psychology of Physical Activity, Health and Well-Being
title The role of responses to self-critical thoughts in the relationship between perfectionism and distress in Finnish Competitive Athletes
title_full The role of responses to self-critical thoughts in the relationship between perfectionism and distress in Finnish Competitive Athletes
title_fullStr The role of responses to self-critical thoughts in the relationship between perfectionism and distress in Finnish Competitive Athletes The role of responses to self-critical thoughts in the relationship between perfectionism and distress in Finnish Competitive Athletes
title_full_unstemmed The role of responses to self-critical thoughts in the relationship between perfectionism and distress in Finnish Competitive Athletes The role of responses to self-critical thoughts in the relationship between perfectionism and distress in Finnish Competitive Athletes
title_short The role of responses to self-critical thoughts in the relationship between perfectionism and distress in Finnish Competitive Athletes
title_sort role of responses to self critical thoughts in the relationship between perfectionism and distress in finnish competitive athletes
title_txtP The role of responses to self-critical thoughts in the relationship between perfectionism and distress in Finnish Competitive Athletes
topic Master's Degree Programme in Psychology of Physical Activity, Health and Well-Being
topic_facet Master's Degree Programme in Psychology of Physical Activity, Health and Well-Being
url https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/103469 http://www.urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:jyu-202506125284
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