ABSTRACT
This chapter presents an overview of organizational stress as it applies to high-level athletes. It discusses the common models used to explain organizational stress that are most relevant to high-level sport. The world of high-level sport, while often viewed as glamorous and highly desirable, is also fraught with challenges related to issues of relationships, finances, and selection procedures. The chapter reviews research and theory specific to organizational stress in high-level sport. It also discusses the consequences of organizational stress for high-level athletes’ psychosocial health. In the model, the researchers posit that work stress in the form of task demands, organizational factors, and physical conditions, and as moderated by individual, non-work, and buffer factors such as social support, lead to acute psychological, physiological, and behavioral reactions, which can over time result in cardiovascular disease, clinical psychological disorders, and/or long-term physical impairment.
