Athletes’ resistance to chronic stress: the dynamics of psychological regulation

The research deals with the promotion resources of mental toughness in relation to chronic stress evoked by athletes’ participation in a long competitive season that is regarded as a long-term mental stress regulator. The study involved two teams doing aesthetic group gymnastics and demonstrating different progress. Each team consisted of ten elite female athletes. The involvement of the psychological resources of the mental toughness promotion was investigated at three stages of the competitive season. The rearrangements of mental toughness resources from one stage of the competitive season to another were described. The research revealed that the more successful team differed from the less successful one in effectiveness and adequacy of psychological resource involvement in relation to competitive aims. The less successful team demonstrated the redundancy of the psychological resource involvement along with a tendency to minimize the functions.