Objectives

The aim of the study was to examine mediating effects of emotion regulation and sport-specific dispositional mindfulness on self-rated athletic training performance, following the Mindfulness-Acceptance-Commitment (MAC) intervention, compared to a Psychological Skills Training (PST) control group.

Methods

Sixty-nine competitive elite athletes who did not have any prior experience with mindfulness- and acceptance-based exercises, were recruited and randomly assigned into either a MAC group or a traditional PST group. Latent growth curve analyses were performed to examine longitudinal relationships among the study variables. Mediation analyses were conducted to test if the growth trajectory of each of the proposed mediators mediated the relationship between the intervention and perceived performance (measured at T3).

Results

Findings showed that the MAC intervention had an indirect effect on self-rated athletic training performance through changes in dispositional mindfulness and emotion regulation respectively. Further, the MAC-group obtained greater post-test improvements in athletic mindfulness, emotion regulation abilities, and perceived performance compared to the PST group.

Conclusions

Overall, findings suggest that dispositional athletic mindfulness and emotion regulation may function as important mechanisms in MAC, and that the MAC approach is a more effective intervention compared to the PST condition in reducing emotion regulation difficulties, as well as enhancing sport-relevant mindfulness skills and perceived athletic training performance in elite sport.

The main objective of the project was to examine a proposed theoretical model of mindfulness mechanisms in sports. We conducted two studies (the first study using a cross-sectional design and the second a longitudinal design) to investigate if rumination and emotion regulation mediate the relation between dispositional mindfulness and sport-specific coping. Two hundred and forty-two young elite athletes, drawn from various sports, were recruited for the cross-sectional study. For the longitudinal study, 65 elite athletes were recruited. All analyses were performed using Bayesian statistics. The path analyses showed credible indirect effects of dispositional mindfulness on coping via rumination and emotion regulation in both the cross-sectional study and the longitudinal study. Additionally, the results in both studies showed credible direct effects of dispositional mindfulness on rumination and emotion regulation. Further, credible direct effects of emotion regulation as well as rumination on coping were also found in both studies. Our findings support the theoretical model, indicating that rumination and emotion regulation function as essential mechanisms in the relation between dispositional mindfulness and sport-specific coping skills. Increased dispositional mindfulness in competitive athletes (i.e. by practicing mindfulness) may lead to reductions in rumination, as well as an improved capacity to regulate negative emotions. By doing so, athletes may improve their sport-related coping skills, and thereby enhance athletic performance. © The Author(s) 2017.