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Future anxiety and psychological wellbeing among sport management students: the indirect role of mental toughness and the joint moderating role of age and family economic status

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Introduction This study examined the association between future anxiety and psychological wellbeing, the indirect association through mental toughness, and the joint moderating role of age and family economic status in the relationship between future anxiety and mental toughness among sport management students. Methods A cross-sectional correlational design was used with 367 students enrolled in sport management departments at four public universities in Türkiye. Data were collected using the Future Anxiety Scale for University Students, the Mental Toughness Inventory, and the Psychological Wellbeing Scale. Pearson correlation, observed-variable path analysis, and three-way interaction analysis were conducted. Results Future anxiety was negatively associated with psychological wellbeing ( r = −0.40, p < 0.001) and mental toughness ( r = −0.35, p < 0.001), whereas mental toughness was positively associated with psychological wellbeing ( r = 0.75, p < 0.001). The indirect association between future anxiety and psychological wellbeing through mental toughness was statistically significant ( β = −0.240, 95% BCa bootstrap CI [−0.336, −0.160]), while the direct association remained significant ( β = −0.165, p < 0.001), indicating that mental toughness accounted for part of the association. The three-way interaction among future anxiety, age, and family economic status was statistically significant in predicting mental toughness ( B = 0.550, p = 0.006). Future anxiety was negatively associated with mental toughness across all age and family economic status groups. The largest observed negative slope was found among students aged 22 years or older whose family income was lower than their family expenses ( B = −0.620, p < 0.001), whereas the smallest observed negative slope was found among students aged 18–21 years in the same economic group ( B = −0.180, p = 0.041). Discussion These findings identify mental toughness as an important psychological resource associated with psychological wellbeing and indicate that age and family economic status jointly condition the strength of the relationship between future anxiety and mental toughness. Given the cross-sectional design, the findings should be interpreted as statistical associations rather than evidence of causal relationships.

Source: Frontiers in Psychology

DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1955354

Authors: Seda Nur Turhal, Faik Öz, Oğuzhan Gül, Yunus Şahinler, İsmail Belli, Mehmet Bayansalduz