An ecological momentary assessment of the stress and coping experiences of dual-career badminton athletes

A dual-career that combines academic and sporting pursuits can be stressful, as such, it is of importance to explore how dual-career athletes appraise and cope with stress. Existing dual-career literature is limited by retrospective methodologies. In seeking to address these limitations, this study utilized ecological momentary assessment three days a week for four consecutive weeks to explore the stress and coping experiences of six highly trained dual-career student badminton athletes aged between 18 and 26 years (Mage =20.75, SD = 2.4). Deductive thematic analysis of EMA diaries highlights that dual-career athletes experience various competitive, organizational, and personal stressors. Situational characteristics underpinning identified stressors were novelty, ambiguity, imminence, duration, and timing, which aligned predominantly with threat and harm appraisals and occasionally with challenge appraisals. The applied implications of study findings are discussed, particularly regarding EMA methodology for future dual-career research and coping interventions for dual-career student-athletes.