Champion Mindsets of Elite Filipino Athletes: An Exploratory Qualitative Analysis

Previous research reports a positive association between possession of mental toughness (MT) and high performance in sportspersons. However, the extent to which MT is related to playing experiences and appreciation of club environment in elite women's football has received only limited research attention. Accordingly, the present study investigated MT in the context of the English Football Association Women's Super League (WSL). Specifically, this paper examined relationships between level of MT and external (playing experience, perceptions of club infrastructure, and appreciation of support mechanisms) and internal (self-esteem) factors. A sample of 63 elite female professional football players from the WSL, aged between 18 and 35 years (mean = 25.87, SD = 4.03), completed self-report measures. To objectively validate self-ratings, congruence between self and peer-rated was assessed. This revealed a strong degree of consistency. Subsequent analysis found positive correlations between MT, playing experience (number of years playing football, NoY; and highest level of football achieved, HLA), and External Support. Additionally, Self-Esteem correlated positively with MT, NoY, HLA, and External Support. Moderation analysis found MT interacted with NoY and predicted greater levels of Self-Esteem. Players with lower and mean MT, and more years as a professional were more likely to possess higher Self-Esteem (vs. less years). These outcomes indicated important relationships between MT, External Support, and Self-Esteem. Accordingly, WSL clubs can potentially apply the results of this study to enhance positive player mindset.

Psychological health spans several domains, including mental health and quality of life. Mental Toughness is the most widely used but its understanding is limited when applied in sports psychology. Mental Toughness can affect athlete’s performance, Mental Toughness plays an important role in maintaining overall athlete performance during intense matches. The total number of articles obtained at the beginning of the search matched the keywords that has been set is 33 articles. Furthermore, of the remaining 12 articles were identified after an extensive search of the literature in accordance to the PRISMA guidelines, there were four articles included in the exclusion criteria with details, two articles included in the qualitative articles, one article was a duplicate article, and one article was a case study article after a critical appraisal was carried out. The results of a systematic review on twelve articles, the authors found an effect of mental toughness on improving athlete performance. Each of the results found resulted in three major themes, namely: (1) the relationship between mental toughness, mindfulness, and psychological skills in athletes. (2) factors impact athletes' performance, well-being, and ability to handle challenges in sports. (3) the influence of various demographic and educational factors on mental toughness in athletes. The study emphasizes Mental Toughness's impact on both physical performance and mental health in athletes, highlighting its role in managing stress and pressure during sports challenges. Additionally, it underlines the importance of implementing Mental Toughness and mindfulness training programs, along with providing robust psychological support, to enhance athletes' mental strength and overall well-being in sports. Keywords: Adolescent, Child, Mindfulness, Quality of Life, Athletic Performance, Athletes, Anxiety.

Sport psychology in coaching: Improving the personality traits and thinking skills of basketball players

Purpose: This study was motivated by the importance of the role of psychological aspects, especially mental toughness, in supporting athletes' abilities when facing anxiety in a match. Materials and Methods: This study used a meta-analysis method. The search used the Publish and Publish application, with Google Scholar as the database. Literature searches from various sources used the keywords: "Mental Toughness", "Athlete Anxiety", "Competitive Anxiety", "Performance Anxiety", and "Sports Psychology". Five hundred eighteen articles were obtained, which were then filtered based on inclusion and exclusion criteria, and 23 articles were analyzed. Result: The results of the analysis show a negative relationship in the moderate category between mental toughness and competitive anxiety, with rRE = -0.320 (z = -3.030; p < 0.002; 95% CI: -0.113 to -0.528). Egger's test showed no publication bias (p = 0.748 > 0.05). Conclusion: These findings suggest that increased mental toughness is negatively associated with athletes' levels of competitive anxiety. In other words, the higher an athlete's level of mental toughness, the lower their anåxiety levels during competition. This research suggests that coaches and sports psychologists are crucial to integrating psychological practices, such as goal setting, positive self-talk, and imagery, into athletes' training programs. This approach can help improve mental toughness and reduce athletes' anxiety during competition.

PurposeAssessing the development of skills that ensure personal mental toughness in adolescence is important because adolescents’ increasing autonomy and socialisation during adolescence inevitably create the conditions for an increasing number of external stressors to emerge. Paradoxically, adolescents’ confidence in their ability to cope with external stressors decreases during adolescence, which may lead to poorer sports performance in adolescent athletes. This study aimed to determine and analyse mental toughness skills in the cadet and junior age groups of young basketball players. Another aim was to reveal how general (total) mental toughness and age predict each athletic mental toughness skill.MethodsThis study surveyed 378 young basketball players using a two-stage cluster sampling approach. The Mental Toughness Questionnaire 48 (MTQ48) was chosen to assess general mental toughness skills. The Performance Inventory-Alternative (PPI-A) was chosen to assess athletic mental toughness skills.ResultsThe study’s results revealed that players in the junior age group scored significantly higher on challenge (p < 0.001; d = –0.41), commitment (p < 0.001; d = –0.65), emotional control (p < 0.001; d = –0.76), life control (p = 0.02; d = –0.26), overall control (p < 0.001; d = –0.64), self-confidence in one’s abilities (p < 0.001; d = –0.73), self-confidence in interpersonal interactions (p < 0.001; d = –0.50), overall self-confidence (p < 0.001; d = –0.73), total mental toughness (MTQ-48) (p < 0.001; d = –0.78), determination (p < 0.001; d = –0.47) and visualisation (p < 0.001; d = –0.81). Significant correlations (r ranges from 0.12 to 0.37) were found between mental toughness skills and age groups for all scales mentioned above, except positive cognition and self-belief. Total mental toughness strongly predicted athletic mental toughness skills, but age did not predict determination and self-belief skills.ConclusionsThe findings of the present study suggest that promoting mental toughness can lead to improved athletic mental toughness indicators, emphasising its relevance for coaches, trainers, and sports psychologists in enhancing athletes’ development and performance.

Despite the sport's popularity, there is a paucity in futsal psychological interventional research. This study analysed the impact of a ten-session psychological skills training and mindfulness-based intervention (PSTMI) on the mental toughness, competitive anxiety, and athletic coping skills of national league futsal players (n = 13). It also analysed whether these variables were predicted by playing experience. Pre-/post-intervention questionnaires were filled in and analysed (Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2, Sport Mental Toughness Questionnaire, and Athletic Coping Skills Inventory-28). Semi-structured interviews were also conducted with seven athletes; quantitative and qualitative data were integrated in a convergent parallel mixed-methods design. Results revealed significant medium-to-large improvements in mental toughness, cognitive anxiety, and coping skills following the PSTMI. Years of playing experience positively and significantly predicted better self-confidence and coping skills. Thematic analysis generated five themes: (1) post-intervention enhancement in athletic performance and well-being; (2) the non-athletic commitments of futsal players; (3) diverse views on how to improve the intervention; (4) instilling social identity through sport psychology sessions; and (5) the impact of years of experience on skill learning. Results mirrored those from other sporting disciplines. The PSTMI was well-received and equipped athletes with beneficial psychological skills, stressing the need for more sport psychology resources in futsal.

ObjectiveTo investigate the efficacy of interventions designed to train and develop mental toughness (MT) in sport.DesignSystematic review and meta-analysis.Data sourcesJournal articles, conference papers and doctoral theses indexed in Embase, Scopus,...

This study has assessed the psychometric proprieties of the Mental Toughness Inventory (MTI) within the context of Brazilian sports. About 12 professionals participated in the process of adapting and translating the scale to Brazilian Portuguese. Subjects were 575 athletes (23.54 ± 5.79 years old; 58% males) who answered the MTI and the 10-item Connor–Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC-10). Data were analyzed through confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), Cronbach's alpha (α), composite reliability (CR), average variance extracted (AVE), Spearman correlation, and model invariance tests. Results from CFA showed adequate fit for the original 8-item structure of the scale [Chi-square (χ2) = 27.041; p = 0.078; normalized chi-square (χ2/df) = 1.50; comparative fit index (CFI) = 0.988; Tucker–Lewis Index (TLI) = 0.981; root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) = 0.03 [0.00–0.05]; standardized root mean residual (SRMR) = 0.030] assessing mental toughness (MT) as a single factor and the scale presented satisfactory internal consistency (CR = 0.81; α = 0.82). MT was correlated with resilience (r = 0.607), age (r = 0.276), and time of experience in the sport (r = 0.215). The MTI has also shown partial measurement invariance for sex and complete invariance across sport types. It was concluded that the MTI is a suitable tool for assessing MT in the present sample of Brazilian athletes; this instrument has potential practical application for researchers and sports psychologists who seek to develop the well-being and performance of athletes.

Background and Study Aim. A group of psychological traits that are essential to achieving peak performance are referred to collectively as mental toughness. One of the most significant psychological traits linked to sports success, according to athletes, coaches, and sport psychologists, is mental toughness. This study aims to identify the effects of deep breathing on the mental toughness of athletes in Puchong Fuerza Football Club who played in M3 Football League, the Malaysia's third-tier football league. Material and Methods. The research was conducted experimentally with two sessions which include pre-test and post-test. Mental Toughness Questionnaire 48 (MTQ48) and deep breathing techniques were used in this research. Data findings were analyzed to answer the research questions and null hypothesis. Hypothesis testing was used, and inferential statistics analyzed the data. Paired sample t-test was used to identify the effects of deep breathing techniques on mental toughness scores in pre-test and post-test. Results. The analysis results showed that data on mental toughness was negative. It proved by the mean score difference of the pre-test and post-test, in which there were increments of mental toughness score after applying deep breathing technique. Meanwhile, there was a significant difference in mean scores between players toward their mental toughness based on pre-test and post-test results. Conclusions. Therefore, the deep breathing technique has relations with performance and psychological outcomes and can be use as a pre-match mental preparation. It is suggested that coaches and athletes may include the deep breathing technique in training program. The players need to undergo psychological skill training such as deep breathing technique to improve their mental toughness and to ensure that anxiety is at an optimal level in order to achieve excellent performance in competitions.

Mental toughness is a psychological construct related to successful performance in academics, management, and sports among other sectors. However, studies on the determinants of mental toughness with respect to different human endeavours have remained inconclusive. This study explored mental toughness characteristics of male university athletes in selected sports in relation to contextual factors of athletes’ age, playing experience, year of study, and the type of sport. The Mental Toughness Questionnaire (MTQ48) was used to collect data from male university athletes (n = 140). Results of this study showed significant difference in the following components of MT: lower scores in challenge (p = .015), emotional control (p = .005), and life control (p = .002) among athletes with shorter playing experience, and higher scores in life control (p < .001), emotional control (p = .021), and confidence in abilities (p = .009) in handball as compared to soccer players. Soccer players had significantly higher scores in the challenge component (p = .038) of mental toughness as compared to handball players. It was concluded that playing experience and the type of sport influenced characteristics of mental toughness among university athletes. Coaches, trainers, and sports psychologists need to consider these contextual factors to optimize mental toughness of athletes. Future studies should explore how specific contextual factors influence training environments and outcomes, as well as how stakeholders can leverage on the relationships between playing experience, the type of sport and mental toughness to augment athletes’ mental toughness and sports performance.

The theory of motivation advises that individual behaviors are driven by internal and external stimuli that shape the intensity and direction of action. Within the university sports environment, appropriate motivational stimulation can positively influence students’ engagement in physical activity. Therefore, a supportive and motivating sports environment is likely to foster better exercise habits among Chinese college students in Xi’an. To examine how the university sports environment influences the development of exercise habits through motivational factors, and to explore the mediating roles of leisure satisfaction and mental toughness in shaping these habits among Chinese college students in Xi’an. The study aims to provide empirical evidence on enhancing student participation in exercise through an improved motivational climate in university sports settings. A stratified whole-sample approach was embraced to survey 715 college students in Xi’an. Validated measurement scales were used to assess the impact of the university sports environment, exercise motivation, leisure satisfaction, mental toughness, and exercise habits. Statistical analyses, including mediation consequence tests, were directed using SPSS and AMOS to determine relationships among the variables. The university sports environment had a significant positive impact on exercise motivation (β = 0.50, p &lt; 0.001), which in turn positively influenced leisure satisfaction (β = 0.47, p &lt; 0.001), mental toughness (β = 0.44, p &lt; 0.001), and the formation of consistent exercise habits (β = 0.22, p &lt; 0.001). Both leisure satisfaction and mental toughness significantly predicted stronger exercise habits (β = 0.35, p &lt; 0.001; β = 0.29, p &lt; 0.001, respectively) and mediated the relationship between motivation and habit formation. The findings underscore the crucial role of a motivating university sports environment in shaping exercise behaviors among college students and highlight the psychological mechanisms through which these effects occur.

This study examines the mediating role of sports emotions in the relationship between implicit beliefs and mental toughness among student-athletes. Implicit beliefs, categorized as incremental (growth mindset) and entity (fixed mindset), influence athletes' cognitive, emotional, and behavioral responses to competition. Mental toughness, a key psychological trait in athletic success, is shaped by both cognitive and emotional factors. This study utilized a quantitative research design with 500 student-athletes from Regions 9 and 10 in Mindanao, Philippines, employing standardized measures to assess implicit beliefs, sports emotions, and mental toughness. Mediation analysis revealed that sports emotions significantly influenced the relationship between implicit beliefs and mental toughness. Incremental beliefs were associated with greater happiness and excitement, leading to higher mental toughness, while entity beliefs were linked to increased dejection and anxiety, resulting in lower resilience. Notably, dejection and anger were significant mediators in the relationship between implicit beliefs and mental toughness, highlighting the role of emotional regulation in sports performance. These findings underscore the importance of fostering a growth mindset and developing emotional regulation strategies to enhance mental resilience among athletes. The study suggests that coaches, sports psychologists, and educators should implement interventions that reinforce growth-oriented beliefs and adaptive emotional responses to optimize performance. Future research should explore longitudinal designs and additional psychological factors that influence mental toughness to develop more comprehensive athlete development programs.

The purpose of the current paper is to explore the importance of culture in the development of Mental Toughness (MT). This is done by means of a critical review of the current literature that exists in relation to the conceptualisation, definition and development of the concept. We argue that despite recent advances in our understanding, most research into MT has focused on the characteristics of mentally tough individuals. Although important and useful, the role of the environment (e.g., Bull et al. 2005; Hardy et al. 2015), culture (e.g., Tibbert et al. 2015), and context (e.g., Fawcett 2011), and how these impact MT and its development has been given somewhat less attention and is perhaps not well integrated into practice. This relative oversight has occurred because of three specific issues; an exclusive focus on the individual; a top down approach to research and the conceptualisation of MT; a lack of awareness that the athlete is always located in a specific organisation and sport culture with its own processes, systems, values and beliefs. In order to more fully capture how MT is constituted and developed, we suggest that future research needs to adopt a wider perspective by drawing on work around the importance of culture in sport, and make greater use of qualitative methodologies, such as grounded theory, narrative, ethnography and phenomenology to capture the culturally rich accounts of participants. Such a shift, as advocated in this paper, provides a primary point of reference to offer fresh insight in our research efforts, and will also have a major influence on practitioner development and training to assist applied sport psychologists and coaches in the practical task of building and supporting MT development in athletes.

Mental Toughness (MT) is a crucial factor for super-elite athletes &amp;quot;Olympians&amp;quot;, since differences in physical and technical competences are minimal at the professional level. A sample of 28 Egyptian male weightlifters (14 elite &amp;amp;amp; 14 non-elite) and 18 female (9 elite &amp;amp;amp; 9 non-elite) were selected to study the differences between the Egyptian elite and non-elite weightlifters. Also determine of the relationship between MT and the level of achievement was targeted. Participants completed the Mental Toughness Questionnaire (MTQ) evaluating an individual&amp;#039;s competitive desire, focus, self-confidence, and resiliency (4 subscales). T-test and Pearson correlation coefficient were used for data analysis. MT of elite was significant than non-elite weightlifters (p &amp;amp;lt; 0.05, 2-tailed). Subscales associated with MT were also significant at elite. Focus and competitive desire were the most important psychological attributes characterizing the elite male weightlifters, while resilience and focus were at elite female. The correlation between MT and the achievement level was r =0.974** (p &amp;amp;lt; 0.01, 2-tailed). MT represents a condition for developing the achievement level. It is recommended that sport psychologists should help Egyptian elite weightlifters to develop and refine their MT to enter “high mental toughness range”, assisting with the formal integration of psychological training into physical training. As such, this integration may facilitate the effective transfer of mental skills into competition, which can help Egyptian weightlifters to achieve better results in great competitions (e.g., Olympic Games).

"The mission of sport and performance psychology is to facilitate psychosomatic resolutions to help boost performance and well-being in those individuals who participate in sports. The incorporation of these performance-enhancing concepts in mental training is especially important for high school student-athletes with a negative mindset. Unfortunately, at the secondary level, there are a limited number of educational processes available which formally guide student-athletes through their psychological development in sport. As a result, many student-athletes are left without the mental skills needed to cope with the physical, psychological, and socioemotional demands of competition. The development of sport and performance psychology courses in schools could help facilitate positive improvements in how student-athletes think, act, and ultimately play, by merging the informal setting of extracurricular sports with the formal setting of the classroom. In this paper, we employ a mixed methods case study to demonstrate how a high school sport psychology class could impact the mindset of student-athletes. Course curriculum and pedagogy, grounded in a number of learning theories, was designed to utilize educational and psychological principles to create a course anchored in sport and performance psychology concepts. Specifically, this case study demonstrates course effectiveness at building mental skill through the cognitive-behavioral system of ‘Event + Response = Outcome’ in 14 different self-actualizing constructs like goal-setting, mental toughness, and leadership. We present our results on mental skill development and draw a number of conclusions alongside several recommendations for those wishing to incorporate an innovative sport psychology course at the secondary level."