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Stressed but still in the game : how focus and rem sleep shape daily engagement in elite athletes
ID Andolšek, Jure (Author), ID Čater, Rok (Author)

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Abstract
Elite athletes experience substantial psychological and physical stress that can undermine motivation and engagement in daily training and competition. Drawing on the Job Demands–Resources (JD-R) model, this study examines how daily sport-related stress affects sport engagement in elite athletes, focusing on the mediating role of attentional focus and the moderating role of REM sleep. Nineteen professional female handball players from Slovenia participated in a 60-day experience sampling study during the competitive season. Participants completed daily mobile surveys assessing stress, focus, and engagement, and wore validated Oura rings to track nightly REM sleep. In total, 1,020 daily observations were collected and analyzed using multilevel modeling. The results indicate that higher levels of perceived stress were associated with lower sport engagement the following day. This negative relationship was positively mediated by attentional focus: although stress tended to impair concentration, individuals who maintained higher attentional focus remained more engaged. Importantly, REM sleep moderated this relationship such that the negative impact of stress on engagement was slightly attenuated following nights with more REM sleep. The study extends JD-R theory by identifying REM sleep as a physiological buffer against stress. Practically, the results support interventions targeting stress management, attentional control, and sleep quantity to maintain sport engagement. We used a lagged daily design in which stress reported on Day 1 and REM sleep recorded during Night 1 predicted focus and engagement assessed on Day 2. The study demonstrates the value of combining self-reports with objective sleep tracking to understand within-athlete fluctuations in well-being and performance.

Language:English
Keywords:sport engagement, sport-related stress, attentional focus, REM sleep, job demands–resources model
Work type:Article
Typology:1.01 - Original Scientific Article
Organization:EF - School of Economics and Business
FŠ - Faculty of Sport
Publication status:Published
Publication version:Version of Record
Year:2025
Number of pages:Str. 177-190
Numbering:Vol. 31, no. 2
PID:20.500.12556/RUL-180008 This link opens in a new window
UDC:796.01
ISSN on article:1318-2269
DOI:10.52165/kinsi.31.2.177-190 This link opens in a new window
COBISS.SI-ID:243401731 This link opens in a new window
Copyright:
Podatek o licenci CC BY-SA 4.0 je naveden na pristajalni strani članka (glej zgoraj izvorni URL). (Datum opombe: 16. 3. 2026)
Publication date in RUL:27.02.2026
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Downloads:148
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Record is a part of a journal

Title:Kinesiologia Slovenica. scientific journal on sport
Shortened title:Kinesiol. Slov.
Publisher:Fakulteta za šport, Inštitut za kineziologijo, Fakulteta za šport, Inštitut za kineziologijo, Založba Univerze v Ljubljani
ISSN:1318-2269
COBISS.SI-ID:30681856 This link opens in a new window

Licences

License:CC BY-SA 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International
Link:http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
Description:This Creative Commons license is very similar to the regular Attribution license, but requires the release of all derivative works under this same license.

Secondary language

Language:Slovenian
Title:Pod stresom, a še vedno v igri : kako osredotočenost in rem spanje oblikujeta vsakodnevno zavzetost vrhunskih športnikov
Abstract:
Vrhunski športniki doživljajo znatne psihološke in telesne obremenitve, ki lahko oslabijo motivacijo in zavzetost za vsakodnevne treninge in tekmovanja. Na podlagi Modela delovnih zahtev in virov (JD-R) v prispevku preučujemo, kako dnevni delovni stres vpliva na športno zavzetost vrhunskih športnikov, pri čemer je naš glavni cilj preučiti vlogo osredotočenosti kot mediatorja in REM spanja kot moderatorja. V raziskavi je sodelovalo devetnajst poklicnih rokometašic iz Slovenije, ki so v času tekmovalne sezone sodelovale v 60-dnevni študiji z metodo izkustvenega vzorčenja. Udeleženke so vsak dan izpolnjevale mobilne vprašalnike o stresu, osredotočenosti in zavzetosti ter ponoči nosile validirane prstane Oura, ki so beležili njihovo REM spanje. Skupno je bilo zbranih 1.020 dnevnih opazovanj, ki smo jih analizirali z uporabo večnivojskega modeliranja. Rezultati kažejo, da so bile višje ravni zaznanega stresa povezane z nižjo športno zavzetostjo naslednji dan. V tej negativni povezavi kot mediator nastopa osredotočenost. To pomeni, da kljub temu, da stres zmanjšuje koncentracijo, športnice z višjo ravnijo osredotočenosti ohranjajo večjo zavzetost pri športu. Ključna ugotovitev je tudi, da REM spanje omili negativni vpliv dnevnega delovnega stresa na zavzetost, ki je nekoliko manjši po nočeh z več REM spanja. Študija bogati teorijo JD-R z vključitvijo REM spanja kot fiziološkega blažilca stresa. S praktičnega vidika rezultati podpirajo aktivnosti za obvladovanje stresa, nadzor osredotočenosti in količino spanja za ohranjanje športne zavzetosti. Uporabili smo zamaknjen dnevni raziskovalni dizajn, v katerem smo stres merili zvečer, REM spanje ponoči, osredotočenost in zavzetost pa nato ocenili naslednji dan. Študija tudi poudarja pomen kombinacije samoocenjevanja in objektivnega spremljanja spanja za razumevanje dobrega počutja in uspešnosti športnikov.

Keywords:šport, motiviranje, spanje, zavzetost pri športu, s športom povezan stres, osredotočenost, REM spanje, model delovnih zahtev in virov

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