Effects of brief online mindful sport performance enhancement (MSPE) on mindfulness, psychological skills, and performance in student-athletes: A mixed design study

The current study investigated the impact of a brief online Mindful Sport Performance Enhancement (MSPE) on mindfulness, psychological skills, and performance in student-athletes.

A total of 30 participants were assigned to either an experimental group (M _age = 20.04, SD = 3.06) or a control group (M _age = 20.00, SD = 2.46), with 15 student-athletes in each group. All participants responded to the Mindfulness Inventory for Sport (MIS), the Athletic Coping Skills Inventory-28 (ACSI-28), and the Self-Rated Performance Inventory as pre-tests and post-tests. Additionally, a subset of ten experimental group participants participated in a focus group interview.

2 × 2 mixed-design ANOVAs revealed significant improvements in athletic coping skills, coping with adversity, confidence and achievement motivation, and performance. However, no significant effects were observed for mindfulness, coachability, concentration, goal setting/mental preparation, peaking under pressure, or freedom from worry. Qualitative findings from the focus group interview indicated enhancements in concentration, emotion regulation, sleep quality, awareness, and mindfulness.

In conclusion, the six-day MSPE intervention holds promise for enhancing mindfulness, psychological skills, and performance in student-athletes.