The association between subjective sleep and stress in recreational athletes

Abstract

Subjective sleep and stress are strongly associated, at multiple levels, and the current body of evidence highlights a bi-directional association. Previous research has highlighted that issues with sleep can impact on several stress responses. On the other side of this relationship, research has shown that stress-inducing factors can significantly impact sleep. The present study examined this association in a sample of recreational athletes, a population that has received little to no research focus to date Recreational athletes are defined as individuals who exercise >4 hours per week for health, fitness, or unofficial competitions. Recreational athletes (n = 34) completed online measures of subjective sleep, subjective stress, subjective anxiety/depression and training load (PSQI, PSS, HADS and DALDA). Pearson correlations were carried out to examine associations between variables. There was a significant positive correlation between subjective sleep quality and subjective stress. There was a significant positive correlation between subjective stress and training load. There was a significant positive correlation between subjective sleep quality and training load. The positive associations between sleep, stress and training load are consistent with previous research, but the present study adds to the literature by highlighting the associations in recreational athletes. Recreational athletes should proactively manage their sleep and stress, as due to the bi-directional relationship, improving sleep may benefit stress, and improving stress may benefit sleep quality. This is also likely to benefit overall mood and reduce the likelihood of overtraining in recreational athletes.