The Transactional Model of Stress: Applying Lazarus & Folkman's Theory in Sports Psychology
- Dr Paul McCarthy
- Sep 10
- 16 min read
The transactional model of stress helps us understand how athletes see and handle pressure in sports. Richard Lazarus and Susan Folkman created this psychological framework in 1984. Their work reshaped our understanding that stress isn't just about outside events. It comes from how people interact with their environment.
The transactional model of stress and coping gives us a clear picture of why some athletes excel under pressure while others don't perform well. Athletic performance shows interesting patterns through this lens. Lazarus and Folkman's theory suggests that stress happens when people see a gap between what they face and how well they can handle it. Athletes deal with this reality every day as they review potential challenges in competitive sports. The model shows that an athlete's interpretation of competitive situations shapes both emotional and physical responses.
This piece breaks down the key parts of the transactional model. Athletes go through primary appraisal to figure out if something might cause harm. They use secondary appraisal to check their resources for coping. Finally, reappraisal helps them adjust their response based on new information. These concepts are the foundations of sports psychology and give athletes practical ways to handle competitive stress.
Understanding the Transactional Model of Stress
Lazarus and Folkman's stress theory stands out because of its fresh point of view on how people interact with their surroundings. The theory goes beyond older models that saw stress as just an outside force or internal response. Their framework shows that stress comes from a specific relationship between people and their environment when demands exceed their resources and put their well-being at risk [1].
Primary Appraisal: Reviewing the Threat
Athletes face potentially stressful situations and start with primary appraisal. This process helps them sort out encounters based on what they mean for their well-being [1]. They ask themselves: "Will this help or hurt me, now or later, and how?" [1]. This original assessment places the situation into one of these categories:
Irrelevant: The athlete's well-being remains unaffected
Benign-positive: Something good might come from this
Stressful: This could be harmful or challenging
Stressful situations break down further into harm/loss (damage already done), threat (danger ahead), or challenge (a chance to grow) [2]. Research shows that threat and challenge feelings can happen at the same time. To cite an instance, students waiting for exam results felt both threatened and challenged [1].
Primary appraisal kicks off stress-related body systems and creates feelings of distress. The biological stress pathway includes hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis stimulation, which leads to more cortisol production [3].
Secondary Appraisal: Looking at Coping Resources
After primary appraisal comes secondary appraisal. Athletes review what they can control and what resources they have to handle the perceived threat [4]. This vital process answers one question: "Can I handle this?" [1]. Secondary appraisal looks at several factors:
Personal skills, support from others, available resources, and time limits [4]. Athletes also think about their self-efficacy – their belief in knowing how to control the situation [5].
Secondary appraisal's results shape how athletes respond to stress and choose coping strategies. Stress affects mind and body when people see their resources falling short of what they need to handle the threat [3]. Long-term HPA axis activation can throw multiple body systems off balance through cortisol-driven stress response, which might lead to illness [3].
Reappraisal: Adapting to New Information
The transactional model highlights reappraisal as its key feature. People keep reviewing stressors and coping abilities as things change [4]. This fluid process lets new environmental data and fresh insights about reactions start a new round of assessment [3].
Reappraisal means something that looked threatening might later seem harmless. Take a scary opponent who turns out less dangerous than expected [3]. The opposite can happen too – safe situations might start looking threatening. This flexibility means stress responses can grow stronger or weaker based on new facts [3].
New research has built on Lazarus and Folkman's original model. People often find positive outcomes in stressful events, even without clear good endings [3]. This suggests that finding meaning helps create positive feelings during ongoing stress – something the classic model didn't fully explain [3].
Appraisal and coping don't follow a fixed order. People often take another look at their situation, especially under stress when specific appraisals and coping strategies emerge naturally [6]. The transactional stress theory shows that stress appraisals change daily through an active process, making daily assessments naturally variable [6].
Core Components of Lazarus and Folkman’s Theory
Lazarus and Folkman's work makes a key difference between two main types of coping strategies that people use after sizing up a situation. These strategies show how people deal with stress once they see it as either threatening or challenging.
Problem-Focused Coping: Direct Action Strategies
Problem-focused coping takes on the source of stress head-on to change or remove what's causing it. People use this approach when they feel they can control a situation. Athletes often use these strategies. They gather information, make plans, build new skills, or ask others for help to tackle performance challenges.
How well problem-focused coping works depends on what's causing the stress. Research shows these strategies work best with controllable situations - when people can actually change things through their actions. To cite an instance, an athlete struggling with technique might:
Watch video footage to spot specific mechanical issues
Talk to coaches about fixing problems
Set up a practice schedule to work on weak areas
Problem-focused methods usually involve setting goals, finding information, managing time, and getting advice. These approaches tackle what's actually causing the stress rather than just handling how it makes you feel. In spite of that, some sources of stress can't be removed through direct action, so other approaches are needed.
Emotion-Focused Coping: Managing Emotional Response
Emotion-focused coping wants to control emotional reactions to stress instead of changing the situation. This approach really helps when people can't control or remove what's causing stress. Athletes turn to these strategies during competition when outside factors are beyond their control.
These methods include changing how you think about stress, accepting things as they are, getting emotional support, or doing activities that reduce stress. A golfer dealing with bad weather might use mindfulness to handle frustration instead of trying to control something they can't - the weather.
Emotion-focused coping isn't just a backup plan when problem-solving doesn't work. Managing emotions often needs to happen first. This creates mental space that lets people solve problems better. The best approach usually mixes both coping styles, based on what's causing stress and what resources are available.
Transactional Model of Stress and Coping in Context
The way appraisal and coping work together shows how dynamic this model really is. People keep checking both the source of stress and how well their responses work as they use coping strategies. This ongoing process creates feedback loops where coping affects future assessments.
Athletes might first see competition as threatening, then check if they can handle it, use strategies like mental practice, and finally see it more as a challenge than a threat because their preparation worked well.
The model shows how personal differences and situations shape both assessment and coping. Athletes with different personalities, experiences, and beliefs might see similar situations in completely different ways. Cultural background substantially affects which coping strategies people think will work.
The original model didn't pay enough attention to positive emotions during stress. Newer versions recognize that good feelings often exist alongside stress in challenging situations. Finding meaning or purpose in tough times gives athletes another way to stay motivated and resilient when facing ongoing stress.
These core ideas are the foundations of how sports psychologists develop ways to boost athletes' stress management skills in a variety of competitive settings.
Applying the Model in Sports Psychology
Competitive sports offer a perfect setting to see the transactional model of stress at work. Athletes must constantly review potential threats and available resources in this high-pressure environment. This stress appraisal process clearly shows how it affects performance outcomes.
Stress Appraisal in Competitive Sports
Research reveals how athletes see competitive situations through three different perspectives. The data shows that most athletes (60% of participants) see competitions as a challenge that drives them to act more. The rest either view it as a challenge without taking action (18%), experience it as a loss (16%), or feel threatened (5%) [7]. These different ways of seeing competition strongly affect emotional responses and how athletes cope.
The cognitive-motivational-relational theory (CMRT) shows how these assessments shape emotional experiences in sports. Path analyzes confirm that seeing challenges positively relates to pleasant emotions, while feeling threatened links to unpleasant ones [8]. Research has also found three distinct ways athletes assess sport competitions: positive, negative, and active [9].
Athletes who use positive assessments typically:
Take more actions to reach their goals
Ask for help less often
Use strategies that focus more on reaching set objectives [9]
This matches other findings about challenge-oriented athletes. They feel more confident about controlling situations and develop stronger motivation to really prepare for competition [9]. Research shows that problem-focused coping strategies positively relate to performance and good emotions, while strategies focused on disengagement and emotions negatively affect performance [10].
Athlete Perception of Control and Threat
An athlete's sense of control plays a key role in determining whether they see competition as a challenge or threat. The secondary assessment looks at their ability to remove stress or, with challenges, gain available benefits [9].
Control shows up in several ways. Scientists have found three distinct control types: self-control (personal), others' control (access to support), and no control (when no one can control the situation) [8]. The interesting part is that situations where no one has control relate positively to anger and sadness but negatively to anxiety [8].
How athletes see control directly affects their emotions. Seeing events as something they can control connects more strongly with excitement, while believing others can help relates positively to happiness [8]. So athletes perform better when they focus on things they can control rather than things they cannot.
College athletes who see competitive demands as positive challenges often improve their learning and skill levels [11]. But when demands feel too high compared to their perceived abilities, stress hurts their mental health and performance [11]. To cite an instance, see how NCAA Division I athletes who reported anxiety before the season had 2.3 times more injuries than those without anxiety [11].
Transactional Model of Stress Example: Pre-Game Anxiety
Pre-competition anxiety perfectly shows the transactional model at work. Athletes go through complex assessment processes before important competitions that determine their emotional and physical responses.
The primary assessment involves how much the upcoming competition matters. Elite athletes place huge importance on major competitions like Olympic games because these events can affect their sports scholarships and sponsorships [12]. The secondary assessment looks at how their coping resources stack up against competitive demands.
Athletes with high self-efficacy, a sense of control, and an approach focus usually experience a challenge state before competition [13]. This challenge state typically increases sympathetic-adreno-medullary (SAM) activity, which raises epinephrine and cardiac activity [14]. Athletes with low self-efficacy, lack of control, and avoidance focus often feel threatened, which increases pituitary-adreno-cortical (PAC) activity and cortisol release [14].
Without doubt, these physical differences affect performance. Studies of high-performance golfers found that challenge assessments led to better performances, while threat assessments resulted in worse outcomes [6]. The effectiveness of coping depends not just on choosing strategies but also on using different approaches based on personal differences and how intense the stress feels [7].
Problem-Focused Coping Strategies for Athletes
Athletes use problem-focused coping strategies to put the transactional model of stress into practice in sports psychology. These approaches help athletes tackle stressors head-on by changing or removing stress sources when they see situations as something they can control. Research shows these strategies work best when athletes can actually influence what happens through their actions.
Goal Setting and Planning
Goal setting ranks among the most powerful tools for better athletic performance. Athletes who set clear goals pay more attention, work harder, stick with it longer, and come up with better strategies. Studies show that goal setting helps athletes perform better in competitions of all types.
Athletes need to create SMART objectives that work:
Specific: Clear targets (e.g., "win over 90% of defensive challenges" rather than "improve defense")
Measurable: Numbers you can track
Attainable: Tough but possible
Relevant: Fits your overall growth as an athlete
Time-bound: Clear deadlines to hit
Athletes feel less overwhelmed and stay focused when they break down big goals into smaller tasks. This method can make time management 25% more effective [15]. Athletes who use SMART goals create clear plans that help them focus on specific parts of their performance they can control.
Skill Development and Practice Routines
The transactional model of stress and coping shows how skill development helps athletes deal with problems before they happen. Athletes can work on their weak spots through structured practice once they spot technical issues.
Psychological Skills Training (PST) is a vital part that includes visualization, positive self-talk, and focused practice routines [16]. These methods boost mental toughness by a lot because athletes prepare for competitions ahead of time. Research proves that athletes who tackle problems head-on do better and feel more positive than those who just try to manage their emotions [17].
Good practice routines start with spotting performance issues, finding solutions, and following clear training plans. Athletes first find specific skills they need to work on through video analysis or feedback from their coach. They then create structured practice plans that work on these areas and include both technical and mental training.
Seeking Instrumental Support from Coaches
Coach support is a great way to get help with problem-focused coping. Research proves that practical support from coaches leads to more time spent in organized sports [18]. This includes specialized training, technical advice, and game strategy tips.
Studies that explore different types of support found athletes spent more time in organized sports when they got more support from coaches (B = 0.21, p < .001) [18]. Coach support predicted participation better (Between R-squared = 0.15) than support from other people [18].
Coaches help athletes in many ways with training tips, game tactics, and feedback on performance [19]. Sports psychologists tell athletes to ask for this help instead of waiting for it. Athletes can ask for specific feedback about their technique, request personal training plans, or get advice about competition strategies.
These problem-focused strategies help athletes use the transactional model of stress in real-life competitions. They deal with problems they can control instead of just managing how they feel about them.
Emotion-Focused Coping in Athletic Performance
Athletes can use problem-focused strategies to deal with controllable stressors head-on. When situations can't be changed right away, emotion-focused coping techniques help them manage their emotional responses. These approaches are the foundations of regulating psychological and physiological reactions in high-pressure moments.
Mindfulness and Relaxation Techniques
Mindfulness enables athletes to stay aware of the present moment without judgment. They learn to notice distractions without letting them take over. Athletes who practice mindfulness show better emotional control, heal faster from injuries, and sleep better [20].
Here are some practical mindfulness techniques that work:
Taking mindful breaths between plays helps focus on breathing sensations
Mindful stretching builds body awareness during warm-ups
Labeling emotions creates mental space from intense feelings
Relaxation techniques work alongside mindfulness to handle the body's stress responses. Athletes who use these methods reduce muscle tension, improve focus, feel less anxious about performance, recover better, and show lower stress markers in heart rate and cortisol levels [3]. The basic relaxation methods include progressive muscle relaxation, systematic breathing patterns, and autogenic training - where athletes use self-statements to create feelings of heaviness and warmth [4].
Cognitive Reframing and Visualization
Cognitive reframing helps athletes spot negative thought patterns and swap them with better alternatives. Athletes often judge themselves harshly during competitions, which leads to negative emotions. This process breaks that cycle by questioning distorted thoughts.
Research shows cognitive reframing builds mental toughness by encouraging a growth mindset - seeing failures as chances to learn [2]. Athletes learn to see mistakes as challenges for growth rather than threats. This lines up with how the transactional model looks at reappraising situations.
Visualization adds power to cognitive reframing. Mental rehearsal of successful performances creates brain pathways that help actual performance [5]. The best results come from visualization that uses all five senses. One hour of mental training split into 6-10 daily sessions brings benefits you can't get any other way [5].
Social Support and Emotional Expression
Lazarus and Folkman's model shows social support protects against stress. Support from family and friends helps reduce depression more effectively than support from coaches or teammates [21]. This shows how relationships outside sports provide stable emotional resources that help manage ongoing negative feelings.
Expressing emotions brings substantial benefits too. Written emotional disclosure (WED) helps athletes process emotions from stressful events that shake their self-identity [22]. This method cuts through mental confusion about emotional experiences and connects scattered thoughts with identity [22]. Athletes who stay rigid about stressful situations don't adapt as well as those who express their emotions [22].
The transactional model's focus on appraisal and reappraisal makes these emotion-focused strategies valuable. They help athletes face uncontrollable stressors like injuries, delayed competitions, or tough performance conditions.
Case Study: Using the Transactional Model in Sports Counseling
The transactional model shows its true value through case studies in sports counseling. Sports psychologists use this framework to help athletes spot specific stressors. They also help athletes understand how they process these stressors and create coping strategies that match their needs.
Identifying the Stressor and Appraisal
Sports counselors collaborate with athletes to identify exact stressors in athletic settings. These stressors range from competitive pressure to injury concerns. They also include conflicts within organizations and relationship issues with coaches and teammates [1]. Through structured interviews, counselors get a full picture of how athletes view these situations—as threats, challenges, harm, or loss. Research shows athletes tend to use poor coping strategies or none at all when they see stressors as threats [17]. The situation changes when others play a role in the stress and coping process. Athletes are more likely to see these as challenges and use better problem-focused and emotion-focused strategies [17].
Designing a Coping Intervention Plan
Once stressors are identified, counselors create a custom intervention based on the transactional model of stress and coping. The process starts with contracting to set clear objectives and expectations [23]. The interventions teach problem-oriented strategies for manageable stressors and emotion-regulation techniques for unmanageable ones [17]. Cognitive restructuring helps athletes change their catastrophic thoughts into realistic ones [24]. The Adult ego state grounds athletes and keeps them rational during high-pressure moments [25]. Pain catastrophizing also gets attention because it explains how athletes behave when dealing with sport-related pain [1].
Evaluating Outcomes and Adjusting Strategies
Success measurement needs constant assessment of performance metrics and well-being indicators. Counselors track changes in competitive anxiety, performance consistency, and sleep patterns [24]. The model's transactional nature demands flexibility—intervention approaches must adapt as athletes' views change. Counselors run check-ins before major competitions to fine-tune strategies based on new stressors [26]. The scope extends beyond better performance to build a complete sense of self, especially for athletes dealing with transitions or identity issues [27]. This counseling approach using the transactional model helps athletes recognize, review, and state potential health risks [1].
Conclusion
The transactional model of stress helps us learn about athletic performance under pressure. This piece explores how Lazarus and Folkman's theory explains the ways athletes see, review, and respond to stressful competitive situations.
Stress is more than just an external event or internal response. The dynamic relationship between athletes and their environment creates stress, especially when they see demands exceeding their available resources. Athletes first determine if a situation is a threat or challenge. They then review their coping abilities and resources. As new information comes in, they can reassess these situations continuously.
Athletes perform better and experience more positive emotions when they see competitive situations as challenges instead of threats. This mental move represents one of the most valuable ways to use the transactional model in sports psychology. Research shows problem-focused coping strategies work best for controllable stressors. Emotion-focused approaches help manage situations beyond an athlete's direct control.
The difference between controllable and uncontrollable factors matters in competitive sports. Athletes manage stress better when they focus their energy on things they control—like preparation, skill development, and mindset. This works better than fixating on uncontrollable elements such as opponent ability, weather conditions, or officiating decisions.
Sport psychologists help athletes develop customized coping strategies based on their unique appraisal patterns. Goal setting, skill development, and seeking instrumental support are great problem-focused approaches. Mindfulness, cognitive reframing, and social support work as key emotion-focused techniques.
Case studies show how the transactional model works in real interventions. These applications help athletes change potential threats into challenges through systematic appraisal training and coping skill development.
Understanding stress's transactional nature improves athlete well-being. Athletes become skilled at these concepts develop greater resilience, adaptability, and psychological flexibility. These skills benefit them in sports and life.
The transactional model serves as a crucial theoretical framework for sports psychology practice. It emphasizes cognitive appraisal, coping resources, and the dynamic relationship between athletes and their competitive environment. This model guides both research and applied work to help athletes perform their best under pressure.
Key Takeaways
The transactional model of stress reveals how athletes can transform pressure into peak performance by understanding the dynamic relationship between perception, appraisal, and coping strategies.
• Stress is perception-based: Athletes experience stress not from events themselves, but from the gap between perceived demands and their ability to cope with those demands.
• Challenge vs. threat mindset matters: Athletes who view competitions as challenges rather than threats experience better performance outcomes and more positive emotions.
• Match coping strategies to control: Use problem-focused coping (goal setting, skill development) for controllable stressors and emotion-focused coping (mindfulness, reframing) for uncontrollable situations.
• Appraisal is dynamic and trainable: Athletes can learn to reappraise situations through primary assessment (threat evaluation), secondary assessment (resource evaluation), and ongoing reappraisal as circumstances change.
• Focus on controllable factors: Athletes who concentrate energy on preparation, mindset, and skill development rather than opponent ability or external conditions manage competitive stress more effectively.
The model's practical applications in sports counseling demonstrate how personalized interventions based on individual appraisal patterns can enhance both athletic performance and psychological well-being, making it an essential framework for sports psychology practice.
FAQs
Q1. How does the transactional model of stress apply to athletes? The transactional model of stress applies to athletes by emphasizing that stress arises from the interaction between an athlete and their environment. It involves primary appraisal (evaluating if a situation is threatening) and secondary appraisal (assessing coping resources), helping athletes understand how their perceptions influence stress responses in competitive situations.
Q2. What are the main coping strategies athletes can use according to this model? According to the transactional model, athletes can use two main types of coping strategies: problem-focused coping (for controllable stressors) and emotion-focused coping (for uncontrollable situations). Problem-focused strategies include goal setting and skill development, while emotion-focused strategies involve mindfulness and cognitive reframing.
Q3. How can viewing competitions as challenges rather than threats benefit athletes? Viewing competitions as challenges rather than threats can lead to better performance outcomes and more positive emotions for athletes. This mindset shift helps athletes approach competitions with confidence, focus on growth opportunities, and utilize their resources more effectively to manage competitive stress.
Q4. What role does reappraisal play in an athlete's stress management? Reappraisal plays a crucial role in an athlete's stress management by allowing them to continuously reassess situations as new information becomes available. This dynamic process enables athletes to adjust their perceptions and coping strategies, potentially transforming initially threatening situations into manageable challenges.
Q5. How can sports psychologists apply the transactional model in counseling athletes? Sports psychologists can apply the transactional model in counseling by helping athletes identify specific stressors, understand their appraisal patterns, and develop personalized coping strategies. This approach involves designing tailored intervention plans, teaching appropriate coping techniques, and continuously evaluating and adjusting strategies based on the athlete's evolving needs and perceptions.
References
[1] - https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/sports-and-active-living/articles/10.3389/fspor.2023.1265783/pdf[2] - https://www.starmentality.co.uk/post/cognitive-reframing-shifting-perspectives-for-enhanced-performance[3] - https://lifesports.osu.edu/cdn/8.22.23-Mental-Strategies-Relaxation-Techniques-FINAL.pdf[4] - https://psychology.iresearchnet.com/sports-psychology/psychological-skills/relaxation-in-sport/[5] - https://www.researchgate.net/publication/344587632_Visualisation_techniques_in_sport_-_the_mental_road_map_for_success[6] - https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1469029211001737[7] - https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/18/6522[8] - https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/17479541241259726[9] - https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7558556/[10] - https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1358771/full[11] - https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7739829/[12] - https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7419607/[13] - https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00126/pdf[14] - https://www.researchgate.net/publication/233324326_A_Theory_of_Challenge_and_Threat_States_in_Athletes[15] - https://www.drpaulmccarthy.com/post/take-control-7-problem-focused-coping-techniques-to-tackle-life-s-challenges[16] - https://www.getphysical.com/blog/stress-management-strategies-for-athletes[17] - https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10687549/[18] - https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11788341/[19] - https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1469029219302730[20] - https://purposesoulathletics.com/20-mindfulness-exercises-for-athletes/[21] - https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1642886/full[22] - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7728796/[23] - https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1177/0362153713509956[24] - https://www.drpaulmccarthy.com/post/how-to-manage-stress-in-athletes-effective-coping-strategies[25] - https://www.innerwarriortherapy.co.uk/learn-more/blog-post-title-three-pcn4m[26] - https://www.researchgate.net/publication/216598350_A_systematic_review_of_stress_management_interventions_with_sport_performers[27] - https://ctarchive.counseling.org/2022/04/considerations-for-athletes-in-counseling/