When Stress Meets Humor: An Indirect Association with Athletic Mental Energy in Team-Sport Athletes

Athletes competing in team sports encounter a range of stressors, from performance expectations and demanding training loads to interpersonal dynamics within the team. However, the psychological consequences of stress may depend not only on the level of perceived stress but also on the psychological resources athletes draw on to cope with these demands. This study examined the indirect association between perceived stress and athletic mental energy (AME) through coping humor in team-sport athletes. Using a cross-sectional correlational design, the study included 300 athletes (150 women and 150 men; Mage = 21.53, SD = 2.56) actively competing in football, basketball, volleyball, and handball. Data were collected using the Perceived Stress Scale, Coping Humor Scale, and Athletic Mental Energy Scale. The indirect association was examined using PROCESS Model 4 with 5000 bootstrap samples, controlling for gender and competitive status. Perceived stress was positively associated with both coping humor (r = 0.390, p < 0.001) and AME (r = 0.377, p < 0.001). Coping humor was also positively associated with AME (r = 0.414, p < 0.001). A statistically significant indirect association between perceived stress and AME through coping humor was observed (B = 0.149, BootSE = 0.039, 95% bootstrap CI [0.078, 0.232]). The adjusted association remained significant, indicating that the association between perceived stress and AME was not explained solely through coping humor. These findings suggest that the relationship between perceived stress and athletic mental energy in team-sport athletes should be considered not only in terms of stress levels but also in the context of the coping resources athletes draw upon.