Mindfulness Mechanisms in Sports: Mediating Effects of Rumination and Emotion Regulation on Sport-Specific Coping
Open accessAbstract
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.
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These two types of interventions received promising empirical support for their beneficial effects on the development of performance-relevant psychological skills in sport domains.
“These two types of interventions received promising empirical support for their beneficial effects on the development of performance-relevant psychological skills in sport domains (for reviews, see Bühlmayer et al., 2017; Josefsson et al., 2017; Josefsson, Ivarsson, et al., 2019; Noetel et al., 2017; Sappington & Longshore, 2015).”
From Integrated mindfulness-based intervention: Effects on mindfulness skills, cognitive interference and performance satisfaction of young elite badminton players. (2020) · cites this paper as Josefsson et al., 2017
The Introduction describes mindfulness- and acceptance-based programmes as an alternative to traditional psychological skills training (PST), but says empirical support for regular PST in relation to athletic performance is limited. The Results link dispositional mindfulness to sport-specific coping skills; they do not test either type of intervention. The paper therefore supports a promising role for mindfulness-related approaches, not the stated intervention benefits for both types. (LLM, conf=0.84)
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- Authors
- Josefsson, T., Ivarsson, A., Lindwall, M., Gustafsson, H., Stenling, A., Böröy, J., Mattsson, E., Carnebratt, J., Sevholt, S., & Falkevik, E.
- Affiliations
- Halmstad University (SE)
- University of Gothenburg (SE)
- Karlstad University (SE)
- Umeå University (SE)
- Corresponding author
- Josefsson, Torbjörn
- Venue
- Mindfulness
- Published
- 2017-05-03
- Volume
- 8
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 1354-1363
- ISSN
- 1868-8527 (ISSN-L)
- 1868-8535
- PMC
- PMC5605575
- OpenAlex
- W2611609071
- Cited by
- 150
- References
- 23
- Citations by year
- 2026: 24 · 2025: 28 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 32 · 2022: 12 · 2021: 17 · 2020: 9 · 2019: 12 · 2018: 7
- FWCI
- 15.51
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Locations
- Mindfulness (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Diva portal (Dalarna University Library) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Funders
- Swedish Research Council for Sport Science (D2016-0037/P2016-0146)
- Center of Research on Welfare, Health, and Sport
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Sport Psychology and Performance
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Keywords
- trait mindfulness, rumination, emotion regulation, elite athletes, mediating mechanisms, negative emotions, athletic performance, competitive athletes
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