Recent life changes and outcome of prolonged competitive stress

To test the predictive utility of subjects’ recent life changes with regard to outcome of prolonged competitive stress, the authors studied racers (N = 25) in a long distance Alaskan sled race, the Iditarod. Rank order correlations between subjects’ 1-year life change units (LCU) total and adjusted place of finish proved significant by both Kendall’s and Spearman’s Tests. Thus, lower LCU scores correlated with better performance and higher scores with poorer performance. Differences between subgroupings of the racers are considered. The work suggests that the usefulness of recent life changes assessment may be extended beyond physical illness, particularly in the study of response and adaptation to prolonged stress.