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Mindfulness and Its Relationship With Perceived Stress, Affect, and Burnout in Elite Junior Athletes

Henrik Gustafsson, Therése Skoog, Paul Davis, Göran Kenttä, and Peter Haberl

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between dispositional mindfulness and burnout and whether this relationship is mediated by perceived stress, negative affect, and positive affect in elite junior athletes. Participants were 233 (123 males and 107 females) adolescent athletes, ranging in age from 15–19 years (M = 17.50; SD = 1.08). Bivariate correlations revealed that mindfulness had a significant negative relationship with both perceived stress and burnout. To investigate mediation, we employed nonparametric bootstrapping analyses. These analyses indicated that positive affect fully mediated links between mindfulness and sport devaluation. Further, positive affect and negative affect partially mediated the relationships between mindfulness and physical/emotional exhaustion, as well as between mindfulness and reduced sense of accomplishment. The results point toward mindfulness being negatively related to burnout in athletes and highlight the role of positive affect. Future research should investigate the longitudinal effect of dispositional mindfulness on stress and burnout.

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Systematically Reviewing the Efficacy of Mindfulness-Based Interventions for Enhanced Athletic Performance

Ryan Sappington and Kathryn Longshore

The field of applied sport psychology has traditionally grounded its performance enhancement techniques in the cognitive-behavioral elements of psychological skills training. These interventions typically advocate for controlling one’s cognitive and emotional processes during performance. Mindfulness-based approaches, on the other hand, have recently been introduced and employed more frequently in an effort to encourage athletes to adopt a nonjudgmental acceptance of all thoughts and emotions. Like many applied interventions in sport psychology, however, the body of literature supporting the efficacy of mindfulness-based approaches for performance enhancement is limited, and few efforts have been made to draw evidence-based conclusions from the existing research. The current paper had the purpose of systematically reviewing research on mindfulness-based interventions with athletes to assess (a) the efficacy of these approaches in enhancing sport performance and (b) the methodological quality of research conducted thus far. A comprehensive search of relevant databases, including peer-reviewed and gray literature, yielded 19 total trials (six case studies, two qualitative studies, seven nonrandomized trials, and four randomized trials) in accordance with the inclusion criteria. An assessment tool was used to score studies on the quality of research methodology. While a review of this literature yielded preliminary support for the efficacy of mindfulness-based performance enhancement strategies, the body of research also shows a need for more methodologically rigorous trials.

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Examining the Relationship Between Perfectionism Dimensions and Burning Out Symptoms in Deaf and Hearing Athletes

Mimi S. H. Ho, Paul R. Appleton, Jennifer Cumming, and Joan L. Duda

This study examined whether the relationships between self-oriented and socially prescribed perfectionism and symptoms of burning out (i.e., reduced accomplishment, emotional and physical exhaustion, sport devaluation, negative affect, and symptoms of physical ill-health) were moderated by hearing ability. A total of 417 athletes (hearing = 205, deaf = 212) completed the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (Hewitt & Flett, 1991, 2004), the negative affect subscale of the Positive Affect and Negative Affect Schedule (Watson, Clark, & Tellegen, 1988), the Athlete Burnout Questionnaire (Raedeke & Smith, 2001), and the Physical Symptoms Checklist (Emmons, 1991). Regression analyses revealed the hypothesized relationships were generally consistent across both groups. The current findings provide insight into the potential effects of perfectionism dimensions for hearing and deaf athletes’ health.

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Mindfulness Training for Coaches: A Mixed-Method Exploratory Study

Kathryn Longshore and Michael Sachs

Mindfulness-based research in sport has focused on athletes, while coaches remain unexplored. Research consistently shows that coaches experience high stress, which can lead to burnout, reduced performance, and emotional mismanagement. The present study developed and explored Mindfulness Training for Coaches (MTC), which is aimed at increasing mindfulness and emotional stability while reducing anxiety. Participants were 20 Division I coaches. The mixed-method design included trait and state measures of anxiety, mindfulness, and emotion, along with qualitative semistructured interviews. Trained coaches reported significantly less anxiety and greater emotional stability from pre- to posttraining. The state measures showed trained coaches were lower in anxiety and adverse emotions at each time point. Interviews showed six distinct positive impacts on coaches: anxiety and stress; emotions; mindfulness; coaching; athletes; and personal life. MTC is a promising intervention for coaches to reduce stress, improve well-being, and enhance coach-athlete interactions.

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Motivations for Underreporting Suspected Concussion in College Athletics

Susan C. Davies and Brenna M. Bird

Student-athletes often fail to report concussion signs and symptoms, thereby putting themselves at risk for delayed recovery and permanent impairment. The present study examined motivations for underreporting concussion symptoms among college athletes enrolled at an NCAA Division I university. One hundred and ninety-three student-athletes in high-risk sports completed a multiple-choice survey related to self-reporting of suspected concussion symptoms and reporting of teammates’ symptoms. Results indicated that 45% of participants did not report their own suspected concussions during the present season and 50% did not report suspected concussions in teammates. Responses revealed that the primary reason for underreporting a suspected concussion was the belief that the blow to the head was not serious enough. Suggestions are provided for athletes, athletic staff, and coaches to improve players’ awareness of the signs, symptoms, and consequences of concussions, as well as how to report suspected concussions appropriately.

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Moving to Action: The Effects of a Self-Regulation Intervention on the Stress, Burnout, Well-Being, and Self-Regulation Capacity Levels of University Student-Athletes

Nicole Dubuc-Charbonneau and Natalie Durand-Bush

Background:

The purpose of this study was to implement and assess the impact of a person-centered, feel-based self-regulation intervention on the stress, burnout, well-being, and self-regulation capacity of eight university student-athletes experiencing burnout. This was warranted given the negative outcomes associated with athlete burnout, the scarcity of burnout research focusing on student-athletes, and the lack of intervention research addressing burnout in sport.

Method:

A mixed methods design including questionnaires administered at four time points during the athletic season, pre- and postintervention interviews, and multiple intervention sessions was used.

Results:

Repeated-measures ANOVAs revealed that stress and burnout levels significantly decreased, and well-being and self-regulation capacity levels significantly increased as the intervention progressed. The qualitative data supported these findings.

Conclusion:

It appears that university student-athletes participating in this type of intervention can learn to effectively manage themselves and their environment to reduce adverse symptoms and improve optimal functioning.

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Predicting Homesickness in Residential Athletes

Brendan Smith, Stephanie Hanrahan, Ruth Anderson, and Lyndel Abbott

Leaving home or transitioning to another environment is a part of every individual’s personal growth and is often considered to be a significant developmental milestone. The distress that individuals experience with this transition has been identified as homesickness. Elite sporting institutions, such as the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS), have recognized that problems associated with homesickness appear to be a predominant cause of poor well-being and dropout among athletes living in a national sports institute. This study aimed to investigate if individual personality traits and coping styles could predict levels of homesickness in these athletes. Neuroticism, self-esteem, and mental escape were significant predictors of homesickness. These results suggest that athletes who are vulnerable to homesickness can be identified before the commencement of their sporting scholarships so they can be treated accordingly.

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Adaptation: A Two-Perception Probabilistic Conceptual Framework

Gershon Tenenbaum, Andrew Lane, Selen Razon, Ronnie Lidor, and Robert Schinke

We introduce a two-perception probabilistic concept of adaptation (TPPCA), which accounts for fast and slow adaptation processes. The outcome of both processes depends on the perceptual difference (termed herein a quantum) of how an individual perceives his or her abilities, skills, and capacities (βv) to interact, cope, and perform a given task (δi). Thus, the adaptation process is determined by (βv – δi). Fast adaptation processes target aspects that require immediate responses while slow adaptation processes involve ongoing adaptation to long-term demands. We introduce the TPPCA in several domains of inquiry, which rely on fast adaptation processes (perceptual–cognitive–action coupling, performance routines, psychological crisis, reversal states), slow adaptation processes (i.e., career aspirations, burnout), and processes that can be either fast or slow (i.e., flow, affect and mood changes, emotion regulation).

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Drinking Outcome Expectancies and Normative Perceptions of Students Engaged in University Sport in England

Fran Longstaff, Nick Heather, Susan Allsop, Elizabeth Partington, Mark Jankowski, Helen Wareham, A. St Clair Gibson, and Sarah Partington

This study examined whether students engaged in university sport have different drinking outcome expectancies and normative beliefs than students who are not engaged in university sport. A cross-sectional survey of university students in England in 2008–2009 was undertaken. A questionnaire battery, including the Drinking Expectancies Questionnaire (DEQ) and a measure of normative beliefs, was completed by 770 students from seven universities across England. Responses from 638 students who were not abstaining from alcohol were analyzed. Students engaged in university sport have significantly higher drinking expectancies of assertion compared with students not engaged in university sport. Moreover, students engaged in university sport consistently report higher personal alcohol consumption and higher perceptions of consumption in those around them than students not engaged in university sport. Both assertion and the perception that students around them drink heavily provide only a partial explanation for why students engaged in university sport drink more than those not engaged in university sport. Further research is required to identify the reasons for heavy drinking among students involved in university sport in England.

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Effects of an Intervention With a University Recreation Center Staff to Foster a Caring, Task-Involving Climate

Theresa C. Brown and Mary D. Fry

This study examined the effects of a university recreation center intervention aimed at increasing members’ perceptions of a caring, task-involving climate. In addition, members’ perceptions of staff behaviors and their own behaviors were measured. College students (N = 282) completed questionnaires before and after an intervention designed to increase perceptions of a caring, task-involving climate. Results revealed the intervention did increase members’ perceptions of the caring, task-involving climate while reducing perceptions of the ego-involving climate. Members’ perceptions of the staff and their own positive behaviors also increased. The staff’s behaviors predicted members’ perceptions of the three types of climates; moreover, members’ perceptions of the ego-involving climate negatively predicted their caring, task-involving behaviors. The study suggests that members’ perceptions of the climate can be positively influenced through minimal training with recreation center staff and that the behaviors in which the staff engage are an antecedent to members’ perceptions of the motivational climate.