1 UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY The Relationship between Self-Efficacy Beliefs, Coping Strategies, and Performance Outcome in Junior Tennis Players by Andrew Stephen Ling A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE FACULTY OF KINESIOLOGY CALGARY, ALBERTA SEPTEMBER, 2008 © Andrew Stephen Ling 2008 Library and Bibliotheque et 1*1 Archives Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-44271-5 Our file Notre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-44271-5 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non­ L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives and Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par Plntemet, prefer, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans loan, distribute and sell theses le monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, worldwide, for commercial or non­ sur support microforme, papier, electronique commercial purposes, in microform, et/ou autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriete du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in et des droits moraux qui protege cette these. this thesis. Neither the thesis Ni la these ni des extraits substantiels de nor substantial extracts from it celle-ci ne doivent etre imprimes ou autrement may be printed or otherwise reproduits sans son autorisation. reproduced without the author's permission. In compliance with the Canadian Conformement a la loi canadienne Privacy Act some supporting sur la protection de la vie privee, forms may have been removed quelques formulaires secondaires from this thesis. ont ete enleves de cette these. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires in the document page count, aient inclus dans la pagination, their removal does not represent il n'y aura aucun contenu manquant. any loss of content from the thesis. Canada 3 Abstract The constructs of self-efficacy (Bandura, 1977, 1997) and coping (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984) are important in regard to sport performance; however, little work has been done in the sport of tennis. The first part of this study was to develop a tennis-specific self- efficacy questionnaire. The second part examined the direct relationships between a) self- efficacy beliefs and performance outcome, and b) coping strategies and performance outcome. Also, there was an interest to see the effect of coping on performance outcome in the presence of self-efficacy. Competitive junior tennis players in Alberta, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick completed the tennis-specific self-efficacy questionnaire and the Modified-COPE (MCOPE) before their respective tournament. Self-efficacy was a significant predictor of winning percentage. There were also positive relationships between self-efficacy and winning percentage on backhand counterattack, technical anticipation, performance motivation, and outcome motivation. Finally, there was a negative relationship between winning percentage and behavioural disengagement, self- blame, and humor. Acknowledgements I want to acknowledge and thank a number of people for their support and encouragement through the completion of this thesis: • Dr. Dave Paskevich, my supervisor for his guidance through this challenging but rewarding process. It has been a privilege to work with you and I have learned a lot. • To members of my committee, Dr. Nicole Culos-Reed for your support, Dr. Tak Fung for your countless hours helping me with statistical analysis. Tak, I appreciate your patience and keeping me at ease when faced with confusing statistical procedures! • To Rosalie Kolstad for all your hard work and great advice! • Dr. Helen Massfeller in the Faculty of Education for her encouragement during my Masters experience and who I had the privilege to learn from. • Dr. Carolyn Savoy for her constant support through the last few years and giving me the opportunity to share my thesis project, as well as my graduate school experience to her class at Dalhousie University. • Jon Stoochnoff and Eva Wolicki from Tennis Alberta, Roger Keating and Peter Smith from Tennis Nova Scotia, and Michael Downey from Tennis Canada, who all approved and allowed me to conduct my study. • The staff and coaches at the Saville Centre, University of Alberta Outdoor Centre, Calgary Winter Club, Tennis Academy, Glencoe Club, and Red Deer Tennis Club for allowing me to conduct my research at their respective tournaments. 5 • My tennis staff at the Waegwoltic Club in Halifax: Sherif El-Dewary, Nick Ritcey, Brent Keough, Stacey Power, Sarah Mclnnes, and Carla George for pilot testing my questionnaire. Thanks for putting up with me that year! • Special thanks to Dr. Don Voaklander and Mike & Cathy Bennett for welcoming me into the tennis community and assisting me through my data collection in Alberta. • Ryan Schroffel at the Royal Glenora Club, Carson Bell and Corey Stewart at the Saville Centre for their continued assistance in recruiting participants in Edmonton. • To those that helped me edit my final drafts of my thesis. I appreciate your time and your suggestions! • To my Mom and Dad for believing in me and showing support the last three years! Your constant words of encouragement are invaluable to me and I will always be grateful for that! To my Grandma and my sisters for all the supportive emails! 6 Table of Contents THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SELF-EFFICACY BELIEFS, COPING STRATEGIES, AND PERFORMANCE OUTCOME IN JUNIOR TENNIS PLAYERS Page CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 10 CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF LITERATURE 13 Self-Efficacy 13 Self-Efficacy Theory 13 Relationship between Self-Efficacy and Performance 15 Coping 17 Relationship between Coping and Performance 20 Relationship between Self-Efficacy and Coping 21 Overview of Research Questions and Hypotheses 23 CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH DESIGN & METHODOLOGY 25 Participants 25 Research Instruments 25 Tennis-specific Self-Efficacy Questionnaire 25 Modified-COPE 27 Procedures 28 Operational Definitions 29 Statistical Analysis 30 CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS 31 Testing for Gender Differences 31 Descriptive Statistics 32 7 Relationship between Self-Efficacy and Performance Outcome 35 Relationship between Coping Strategies and Performance Outcome 41 Relationship between Coping Strategies and Performance Outcome in the Presence of Self-Efficacy 49 High Self-Efficacy vs. Low Self-Efficacy 54 CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSION 58 Measurement of Self-Efficacy 58 Relationship between Self-Efficacy and Performance Outcome 59 Relationship between Coping Strategies and Performance Outcome 61 Relationship between Coping Strategies and Performance Outcome in the Presence of Self-Efficacy 65 High Self-Efficacy vs. Low Self-Efficacy 66 Limitations & Future Directions 67 REFERENCES 72 APPENDIX A: LETTERS OF SUPPORT 81 APPENDIX B: ETHICS APPLICATIONS 85 APPENDIX C: LETTERS OF INTEREST 88 APPENDIX D: PARENTAL CONSENT FORMS 91 APPENDIX E: PARTICIPATION CONSENT FORMS 98 APPENDIX F: DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION 105 APPENDIX G: TENNIS-SPECIFIC SELF-EFFICACY QUESTIONNAIRE 107 APPENDIX H: MODIFIED-COPE (MCOPE) QUESTIONNAIRE Ill 8 List of Tables Table 1- Independent Samples T-Test for Problem-Focused Coping and Emotion-Focused Coping: Testing for Gender Differences 32 Table 2- Descriptive Statistics for the Tennis-Specific Self-Efficacy Questionnaire 33 Table 3- Descriptive Statistics for the Modified-COPE Subscales 34 Table 4- Results of Linear Regression Analysis: Self-Efficacy (SEtotal) Predicting Performance Outcome in Junior Tennis Players 35 Table 5- Pearson Correlations to Examine the Relationship between Self-Efficacy in each Tennis Skill and Winning Percentage in Junior Tennis Players 37 Table 6- Pearson Correlations to Examine the Relationship between SEtec, SEtac, and SEmot and Winning Percentage in Junior Tennis Players 38 Table 7- Results of Linear Regression Analysis: Self-Efficacy Subscales Predicting Performance Outcome in Junior Tennis Players 39 Table 8- Results of Multiple Regression Analysis: Self-Efficacy Subscales Predicting Performance Outcome in Junior Tennis Players 40 Table 9- Pearson Correlations to Examine the Relationship between Coping Strategies and Winning Percentage in Junior Tennis Players 42 Table 10- Results of Linear Regression Analysis: MCOPE Subscales Predicting Performance Outcome in Junior Tennis Players 44 Table 11- Pearson Correlations to Examine the Relationship between Problem-Focused Coping, Emotion-Focused Coping, and Winning Percentage in Junior Tennis Players 46 Table 12- Linear Regression Analysis on the Relationship between Problem-Focused Coping and Winning Percentage and Emotion-Focused Coping and Winning Percentage in Junior Tennis Players 47 Table 13- Results of Multiple Regression Analysis: Problem-Focused Coping and Emotion-Focused Coping as Significant Predictors of Winning Percentage in Junior Tennis Players 48 9 Table 14- Results of Hierarchical Regression Analysis: The Effect of Problem-Focused Coping and Emotion-Focused Coping on Winning Percentage in the Presence of Self-Efficacy 50 Table 15- Results of Hierarchical Regression Analysis: The Effect of Problem-Focused Coping and Emotion-Focused Coping