This study examined the role of degree of adherence in a mindfulness-based intervention on mindfulness, flow, sport anxiety, and sport-related pessimistic attributions in athletes. Twelve athletes participated in an 8-week mindfulness intervention which incorporated a mindfulness focus on movement training component. Participants completed baseline and posttest measures of mindfulness, flow, sport anxiety, and sport-related pessimistic attributions, and they filled out daily mindfulness-training logbooks documenting their frequency and duration of mindfulness practice. Participants were identified as either high adherence or low adherence with mindfulness-training based on a composite score of logbook practice records and workshop attendance. Athletes high in adherence, operationalized as following recommended practice of mindfulness exercises, showed significantly greater increases in mindfulness and aspects of flow, and significantly greater decreases in pessimism and anxiety than low adherence athletes. Greater increases in mindfulness from baseline to posttest were associated with greater increases in flow and greater decreases in pessimism. Increases in flow were associated with decreases in somatic anxiety and pessimism.
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The Role of Adherence in the Effects of a Mindfulness Intervention for Competitive Athletes: Changes in Mindfulness, Flow, Pessimism, and Anxiety
John Scott-Hamilton and Nicola S. Schutte
Exploring the Relationship Between Goal Achievement Orientation and Mindfulness in Collegiate Athletics
Jessica J. McCarthy
Nicholls’ achievement goal theory suggests that a task-oriented individual sets goals based on a desire to master particular skills or tasks (Nicholls, 1984, 1989), thus promoting intrinsic motivation (Duda, Chi, Newton, & Walling, 1995). An ego-oriented individual evaluates one’s own performance against the performance of others with comparable skill sets, basing success on outperforming the opponent (Nicholls, 1984, 1989), resulting in low intrinsic motivation. Cognitive evaluation theory, embraced within self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985, 1991), suggests that an event that satisfies an inherent need for competence and autonomy leads to increased intrinsic motivation (Standage, Duda, & Pensgaard, 2005). Similarly, Brown and Ryan (2003) found that trait-mindfulness predicted more autonomous activity in day-to-day life and lower intensity and frequency of negative affect. It was therefore hypothesized that in a population of collegiate athletes, a relationship between mindfulness and goal orientation would exist; athletes higher in task-orientation would be more mindful than athletes higher in ego-orientation. Results indicate that a relationship does in fact exist between the Acting with Awareness subscale of the Kentucky Inventory of Mindfulness Skills (KIMS; Baer, Smith, & Allen, 2004) and task-orientation, in that as level of awareness increases, the level of task-orientation also increases. Level of awareness also predicted level of task orientation in athletes. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.
Effects of an Improvisation Intervention on Elite Figure Skaters’ Performance, Self Esteem, Creativity, and Mindfulness Skills
Véronique Richard, Wayne Halliwell, and Gershon Tenenbaum
The study examined the effect of an improvisation intervention on figure skating performance, self-esteem, creativity, and mindfulness skills. Nine elite figure skaters participated in a 10-session program based on Cirque du Soleil artistic principles. A mixed methodology using questionnaires, competition scores, and interviews was used to test the program effects on these variables. Descriptive statistics revealed small but imperative increases in competition performance, perceived artistic performance, self-esteem, creativity, and mindfulness. Significant (p < .05) effect of time was revealed only for creativity and artistic performance variables. Qualitative data supported these results. Skaters described verbally that movements were performed more freely, attention was better focused on performance, and they overcame shyness. Quantitative and qualitative data are discussed interactively in relation to performance enhancement and personal growth.
A Qualitative Study of the Mindfulness Meditation Training for Sport: Division I Female Soccer Players’ Experience
Amy Baltzell, Nicole Caraballo, Kristen Chipman, and Laura Hayden
This study explored how members of a Division I varsity women’s soccer team experienced a 6-week, 12 session mindfulness meditation training for sport (MMTS) program. The coaching staff and entire team participated in the MMTS program. Seven of the team members volunteered to be interviewed after their participation in the MMTS program. Thematic analysis was implemented. Most participants reported difficulty understanding the process of meditation at the start of the MMTS program. Post-MMTS, they reported an enhanced ability to accept and experience a different relationship with their emotions, both on and off the field. They also noted the importance of creating a phrase of care for self and team for cohesion purposes. Enhanced mindfulness, awareness, and acceptance of emotional experiences were attributed directly to the mindfulness training. Participants provided specific recommendations for future sport-focused mindfulness meditation programs.
Predictors of Teachers’ Attitudes Toward Teaching Students With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in General Physical Education
Chunxiao Li, Justin A. Haegele, Ho Lun Au, and Kevin Wai Keung Kam
attitudes ( Anderson et al., 2012 ). The last perspective is related to psychological predictors. Psychological predictors of teachers’ attitudes toward inclusion has received little attention ( Tant & Watelain, 2016 ). The present study focuses on two psychological predictors, self-esteem and mindfulness
Journaling as Contemplative Practice for Sport Management Education
Samuel M. Clevenger and Jaime R. DeLuca
which they can become mindful of their immediate thoughts and feelings and more aware, hopefully in a critical sense, of their assumptions and understandings concerning the sporting world ( Barbezat & Bush, 2014 ). This is perhaps why contemplative scholars in other fields contend that journaling
Psychological Interventions Can Reduce Injury Risk in Athletes: A Critically Appraised Topic
Shauna Ericksen, Geoff Dover, and Richard DeMont
increased symptoms of depression. 5 Psychological interventions like cognitive behavioral therapy, mindfulness, and imagery are used to help manage responses to stress, anxiety, and depression, and can reduce injury risk by up to 53%. 2 , 3 , 7 , 8 Identifying athletes who are negatively affected by sport
Acceptance and Commitment Training to Promote Psychological Flexibility in Ice Hockey Performance: A Controlled Group Feasibility Study
Tobias Lundgren, Gustaf Reinebo, Markus Näslund, and Thomas Parling
Due to advances in behavioral research during the last decades, the “third wave” or “third generation” of cognitive and behavioral therapies emerged in clinical psychology. The third wave puts emphasis on acceptance, mindfulness, attention and values as possible processes of behavioral change
The Effects of an Exploratory Mindfulness Intervention on Collegiate Performance
Maya Trajkovski and Aubrey Newland
to increase athletes’ performance and control internal thoughts and emotions ( Hardy et al., 1996 ). However, proponents of mindfulness suggest that present-moment focus and acceptance—rather than controlling thoughts and emotions—can aid in athletic performance enhancement ( Birrer et al., 2012
The Adaptation and Evaluation of a Pilot Mindfulness Intervention Promoting Mental Health in Student Athletes
Audrey G. Evers, Jessica A Somogie, Ian L. Wong, Jennifer D. Allen, and Adolfo G. Cuevas
, mindfulness-based interventions were found to be effective in improving symptoms of depression and generalized anxiety disorder ( Huang et al., 2018 ). Mindfulness-based interventions have emerged as promising strategies for alleviating the burden of stress in college students and student athletes
