WHAT COPING STRATEGIES ARE USED FOR ATHLETES OF MMA MORE RESILIENT TO STRESS?

ABSTRACT This study aimed at investigating the association among resilience, stress and coping strategies of MMA athletes. 50 male MMA athletes with a mean age of 25,0±4,80 years participated in the study. A socio-demographic inquiry, the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, the Athletic Coping Skills Inventory, and the Recovery-Stress Questionnaire for Athletes (RESTQ-76) were used as instruments. The descriptive statistics, the Chi-Square test in one factor and 2x2, Fisher’s exact test, and the binary logistic regression (p<0,05) were used for data analysis. The stress levels were low, and the athletes showed high recovery levels considering the subscales referred to as ‘self-efficacy’ (p=0.048) and ‘self-regulation’ (p=0.048). Resilient athletes are more likely to use strategies of ‘adversity confrontation’ (OR=6.47), ‘concentration’ (OR=11.67), and ‘coachability’ (OR=5.49). In conclusion, the resilient athletes have lower stress levels because they concentratedly face the conflicts that arise from the sport environment, in addition to learn with their training.