Blankenship, Bonnie Tjeerdsma
Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance (JOPERD), v78 n6 p39-44 Aug 2007
Negative stress in physical education can reduce a student's enjoyment of physical activity and destroy the individual's desire to be a lifelong mover. The purpose of this article is to explore the concept of stress in physical education. Stress is defined as a substantial imbalance between the demand of a situation and the individual's capability to respond, when the consequences are important to the individual. The stress process consists of four stages: (1) a demand (which can be physical, psychological, or cognitive); (2) appraisal of the demand and of the available resources and capability to deal with the demand; (3) a negative response to the cognitive appraisal of the demand and the resources with various levels of cognitive and somatic anxiety, depression, fear, and anger; and (4) the stress response, which affects behavior and/or performance. This article discusses various strategies that can help students to overcome each stage of the stress process so they will view physical education as a positive, life-enhancing experience. (Contains 1 table and 1 figure.)
Descriptors: Physical Education, Physical Activities, Depression (Psychology), Student Evaluation, Anxiety, Performance, Student Behavior, Cognitive Processes, Stress Management, Behavior Modification, Educational Strategies, Relaxation Training, Physical Education Teachers
American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance. 1900 Association Drive, Reston, VA 20191. Tel: 800-213-7193; Fax: 703-476-9527; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: http://www.aahperd.org
