Athletes' coping across the lifespan

The past twenty-five years of sport psychology research has witnessed a burgeoning amount of attention to the study of coping. However, there have been few attempts to understand how athletes' coping changes across the lifespan. This chapter provides knowledge about the development of coping as it is studied in sport psychology. Specifically, three lines of research are reviewed: (a) the direct study of age-related differences in athletes' coping, (b) the indirect study of age-related differences in athletes' coping, and (c) maturation differences in athletes' coping. A developmental agenda for the study of coping in sport is offered. We conclude the chapter by addressing future directions for sport research.