The Effectiveness of Cognitive-Behavioral Group Therapy on Stress and Self-Confidence in Injured Professional Athletes

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Department of Motor behavior, Faculty of Physical Education, University of Tabriz,, Tabriz,, Iran

2 Department of Motor behavior and sports psychology, Faculty of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

3 Department of Psychology, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

10.22034/mmbj.2026.67024.1172

Abstract

The present study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral group therapy on stress and self-confidence in injured professional athletes. In this quasi-experimental study, 32 injured athletes were selected via purposeful sampling and randomly assigned to experimental (n=16) and control (n=16) groups. The experimental group received eight 90-minute sessions of cognitive-behavioral group therapy. Research instruments included Cohen's Perceived Stress Scale and Eysenck Self-Esteem Inventory, administered at pre-test, post-test, and two-month follow-up. Repeated measures ANOVA revealed significant main effects of group on stress (F=13.984, p=0.002, η²=0.332) and self-confidence (F=21.125, p=0.001, η²=0.585). Significant group × time interactions were found for stress (F=7.460, p=0.001) and self-confidence (F=14.445, p=0.001). Pairwise comparisons in the experimental group showed significant stress reduction from pre-test to post-test with a mean difference of 7.818 (p=0.001), and significant self-confidence improvement from pre-test to post-test with a mean difference of 1.667 (p=0.003). These effects remained stable at the two-month follow-up. The results support cognitive-behavioral group therapy as an effective intervention for improving psychological health and accelerating the recovery process in injured professional athletes.

Keywords

Main Subjects

Mind, Movement, and Behavior
Volume 5, Issue 1
April 2026
Pages 97-116

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History

  • Receive Date: 26 August 2025
  • Revise Date: 12 December 2025
  • Accept Date: 11 February 2026

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