Managing daily responsibilities among collegiate student-athletes: Examining the roles of stress, sleep, and sense of belonging

Abstract

Objectives: Student-athletes are unique in their undertaking of full-time academic and athletic roles. Their dual roles impose a multitude of responsibilities in their daily lives, yet little is known about the factors that may negatively impact their ability to effectively manage these responsibilities. Participants: Data from a large sample of Canadian varsity athletes (N = 1,353) were used for the present study. Methods: The association between stress and difficulties managing daily responsibilities, while simultaneously investigating the roles of sleep difficulties and sense of belonging as contributing factors was examined. Results: Findings indicated that the moderated mediation model was significant, revealing that sleep difficulties were a significant mediator in the relationship between stress and difficulties managing daily responsibilities and that sense of belonging moderated the relationship between stress and sleep difficulties. Conclusions: The results expose complex ways that student-athletes’ performances (academic and athletic) can be impaired, signaling the need to develop strategic actions toward prevention and management of stress among student-athletes.

Keywords:

• Managing daily responsibilities
• sense of belonging
• sleep
• stress
• student-athlete

Conflict of interest disclosure

The authors have no conflicts of interest to report. The authors confirm that the research presented in this article met the ethical guidelines, including adherence to the legal requirements, of Canada and received approval from each of the participating institutions.

Ethics statement

The opinions, findings, and conclusions presented/reported in this article are those of the authors and are in no way meant to represent the corporate opinions, views, or policies of the ACHA (ACHA). ACHA does not warrant nor assume any liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of any information presented in this article. This study is exempt from ethics approval because it relies on the use of ACHA micro-files and secondary analysis of anonymous data (Tri-Council Policy Statement, articles 2.2 and 2.4, respectively). Participation in this survey was voluntary.

Additional information

Funding

No funding was used to support this research and/or the preparation of the manuscript.