抄録
The Intelligence and Scientific Support team of the Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC) surveyed all JOC-Athletes Targeted for Olympic High Performance (n=995) on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in August 2020. The athletes responded to a web-based questionnaire. This study analyzed psychological stress responses and communication status from questionnaire data collected from identical participants using similar methods to the JOC Athlete Survey Part-1 (Sugita et al., 2021). Results indicated that summer sports athletes had significantly higher stress responses than winter sports athletes. Moreover, the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K6) score suggested that the proportion of summer sports athletes suffering from psychological distress (K6≧13) exceeded 10%. Mental health of summer sports athletes might have deteriorated due to the psychological impact of postponing the Tokyo 2020 Games. The stress response and mental health scores were positively correlated with stressors and negatively correlated with stress coping ability (Sense of Coherence: SOC). We speculate that reducing stressors associated with self-restraint and improving individual athletes' SOC might reduce stress responses and maintain or improve their mental health. Furthermore, the lack of communication between the athletes and their teammates and the coaches was indicated, especially during the state of emergency. Therefore, more holistic support activities for providing psychological support to Japanese elite athletes with mental health concerns using communication technologies, including videos and web conferences, might be required in the future.
