Effect of a 7-week Mindfulness-Acceptance-Commitment intervention programme on mental toughness: An experimental study of male league softball players

Abstract

Mental toughness is viewed as an important psychological variable that could assist athletes to perform successfully in sport. This study investigated the effects of a Mindfulness-Acceptance-Commitment (MAC) intervention programme on the mental toughness of male league softball players. It was hypothesised that players participating in the experimental group will report significantly higher mental toughness scores than those in a control group. A purposive sample of two teams randomly assigned to an experimental (n=9) and control group (n=8) from two different provinces, representing 17 players with a mean age of 23.41 years (9.36) was invited to participate in the study. Players in the experiment group received a 7-week MAC intervention programme, while those in the control group did not. Mental toughness was assessed with the Sports Mental Toughness Questionnaire (SMTQ). The non-parametric Wilcoxon Signed Rank tests and Mann-Whitney U-tests undertaken to analyse within-and-between-group differences at pre and post-test levels and consequently to determine the effects of the MAC programme on the softball players. The results indicated that the experimental group had significantly higher mental toughness than the control group at the post-test, thus confirming that the MAC intervention had a statistically significant effect (p=.000) on the mental toughness of the softball players. The MAC programme appeared to be a valuable intervention in securing the mental toughness of softball players.