Effect of mindfulness intervention on mental toughness, emotional intelligence and flow in skilled volleyball players

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Master's degree in Sports Psychology, Department of Behavioral and Cognitive Sports Sciences, Faculty of Sports and Health Sciences, University of Tehran, Iran.

2 Sport psychology Group. sport science faculty, Tehran university, Tehran, Iran

3 Master's degree in motor behavior, Department of Physical Education, Faculty of Humanities, Azad University, Sari Branch, Iran.

4 Bachelor of Sports Science, Department of Physical Education, Faculty of Humanities, Azad University, Zarrin Dasht Branch, Iran.

10.22034/mmbj.2024.56301.1036

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to explain the effect of a mindfulness intervention course on mental toughness, emotional intelligence and flow among skilled volleyball players. The current study is a semi-experimental type and the statistical population consisted of all skilled volleyball players of Tehran University. The research sample was made up of 30 skilled volleyball players of Tehran University who participated in the university team's training. The pre-test included a demographic questionnaire, a 48-question mental toughness questionnaire by Clough et al., an emotional intelligence questionnaire by Lan et al., and also the state scale of flow-2. Then, the statistical sample was randomly divided into two control and intervention groups, and the intervention group did six weeks of mindfulness training, and after that, the mentioned questionnaires were again distributed among all the statistical sample and information was collected. After checking the normality of the data distribution in two groups using the Shapiro-Wilk test, the dependent t-test and independent t-test were used to compare the differences between the intragroup and intergroup averages. The results showed that the effect of mindfulness intervention on the mean difference of mental toughness variable is not significant, but it is significant on the mean difference of emotional intelligence and flow variables (P≥0.05). The effect of mindfulness intervention on emotional intelligence and flow in athletes was positive. Considering the importance of emotional intelligence and flow of athletes in achieving high levels of competition, it is suggested that coaches use mindfulness intervention in athletes with high skill levels to improve these psychological factors.

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