Mental skills and health in competitive athletes: exploratory effects of a short mental training

Purpose: This exploratory study examined the effects of a short mental training (MT) intervention on competitive athletes’ mental skill abilities and mental health outcomes. Methods: N=54 Italian athletes were recruited and randomly assigned to either the experimental or the waiting list control group. Participants were tested pre and post-training via self-report questionnaires assessing depressive symptoms, stress, affect, mental skill abilities, self-perceived wellbeing, and self-confidence in competing in their own sport. Furthermore, the MT group answered open-ended post-training questions to assess athletes’ perception of wellbeing improvement. Linear or generalized mixed models along with qualitative thematic analyses were performed. Results: Significant effects were detected on self-perceived wellbeing (p=.003; pη2=.155), mental skill abilities (p=.006; pη2=.138), and athletes’ self-confidence in competing in their sport (p=.023; pη2=.096). From the thematic analysis, it appeared that athletes’ perception of personal wellbeing improvement was associated with both the areas of everyday life and sport-related activities. Conclusion: The present preliminary findings suggest that young adult athletes can benefit from a short MT-based intervention. Despite these interesting results, the present study is not devoid of limitations. These include an overrepresentation of male participants and a lack of an active control group.