Psychological intervention strategies in college physical education and their impact on students' athletic performance
Year: 2025
Type: article
Study design: Clinical Trial
Abstract: Introduction Psychological issues continue to pose a critical influence on athletic performance as well as the wellbeing of collegiate-level athletes, as data suggests that one-third of male varsity-level athletes and half of those at the female varsity level experience anxiety and depression. A lack of assessment of the long-term effects of psychological intervention in a collegiate athletic setting, despite the recent realization of its importance, continues to pose a significant issue. Methods This randomized comparative effectiveness study, consisting of a sample of 324 student-athletes from a total of 12 higher education institutions, measured the differences between four psychological intervention groups that focused on attention training, cognitive restructuring, goal setting, as well as the regulation of emotions. Results Results of MANOVA analysis indicated that attention training (AT) had a greater enhancement in performance (d = 0.73) than cognitive restructuring (CR) (d = 0.56) and goal setting (GS) (d = 0.48). A large gender difference was observed, showing that female participants had greater improvement in emotional regulation (ER) (42.7% vs.31.4%) and psychological resilience (PR), and males had greater improvement in accuracy (36.2% vs.24.8%). Also, results of ANOVA analysis indicated a small regression in AT after 12 months ([3.2% in self-efficacy (SE), 4.3% in PR]), which was again affirmed by 12-month results ([Resilience:92% maintenance, anxiety reduction (AR):68%]). Moreover, AT results had a large positive transfer to academic performance (AP) ( r = 0.43, p < 0.001), where self-regulation (SR) had the highest values as a mediator (β = 0.47). Discussion Psychological integration in college-level PE lead to a large enhancement in athletic as well as academic performance. These results had a long-term positive persistence, which supports inclusion of systematic psychological skills training in athletic programs as a standard feature rather than a one-shot experience. Psychological intervention selection can be suggested according to target performance goals.
Source: Frontiers in Psychology
Authors: Wenkui Zhang, Dan Wang, Mingjun Wang, Jiang Wu, Tianqi Jia, Xifeng Wang
Institution: Weifang Institute of Technology
Language: English
Subfield: Developmental and Educational Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $3,801
OpenAlex ID: W4417415248