“You can’t stop the waves, but you can learn to surf.” ~ Jon Kabat-Zinn
Almost every day, athletes are training their bodies. However, it is also important to train your mind, emotions and awareness as well. The research continues to grow on the benefits of developing self-compassion and mindfulness in sport. From enhancing performance to dealing with injuries in sport, self-compassion and mindfulness can help. Following is some of the supporting research that specifically relates to adolescent age-group (i.e. ages 13-18) and sits behind the Adolescent Athlete’s Well-Being toolkit.
Mental Health and Wellbeing – General Statistics…
- 1 in 5 (20%) young people aged 11–17 had either high or very high levels of psychological distress (13% and 6.6%, respectively),
- a higher proportion of females had high or very high levels of psychological distress (16% and 9.5%, respectively) compared with males (10% and 4.0%)
- a higher proportion of those aged 16–17 had high or very high levels of psychological distress (11% and 16%) compared with those aged 11–15 (4.8% and 12%)
Lawrence, D., Johnson, S,, Hafekost, J., Boterhoven De Haan, K., Sawyer, M., Ainley, J., & Zubrick, S. (2015) The Mental Health of Children and Adolescents. Report on the second Australian Child and Adolescent Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing. Canberra, Australia: Department of Health. N.B. This publication is often referred to as Young Minds Matter.
- one in five (20%) Australians aged 16-34 years experienced high or very high levels of psychological distress (ABS, 2021).
Full research to be released soon, however click on link above to read the initial release.
Mindfulness…
A few pieces of research relating to mindfulness and sport –
- Atchley, A. (2011). An Examination of the Effects of Mindfulness and Task-Relevant Attentional Focus on Running Performance. Masters Theses & Specialist Projects. Paper 1069. (median age 19).
- Bernier, M., Thienot, E., Codron, R., & Fournier, J. (2009). Mindfulness and Acceptance Approaches in Sports Performance. Journal of Clinical Sport Psychology, 4, 320-333. This article discusses two studies – interviews with elite swimmers and the second with young elite golfers. Study 1 showed that optimal performance, or “flow,” states reveal similar characteristics to mindfulness and acceptance states. In Study 2, mindfulness and acceptance were integrated into a psychological skills training program for seven young elite golfers and contributed to enhancement in performance. (age range 18-24).
- Beina, S. (2008). Mindfulness and Sport Participation in College Students. Senior Honours Thesis. The purpose of this study was to examine levels of mindfulness among athletes versus non athletes as well as examine whether differences in mindfulness exist between individual sport athletes and team sport athletes. (average age 21).
- Brown, K.W., & Ryan, R.M. (2003). The Benefits of Being Present: Mindfulness and Its Role in Psychological Well-Being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84(4), 822-848.
- Davis, D., & Hayes, J. (2012). What Are the Benefits of Mindfulness? American Psychological Association, 43(7), 64.
Also – following are a range of articles that refer to mindfulness and sport –
- Mindfulness in Tennis
- Mindfulness in Sport and Exercise
- Flow: The Mindful Edge in Sport and Performing Arts
- Mindfulness Techniques Used in NFL
- How Mindfulness Alters the Brain
- Well Fit ‐ How to Increase Mindfulness and Engagement into your Fitness program
- Novak Djokovic combines Buddhist Mindfulness and Tennis at Wimbledon
Self-Compassion…
Following is some specific information on adolescent athlete’s –
- Barczak, N., & Eklund, R. C. (2018). The moderating effect of self-compassion on relationships between performance and subsequent coping and motivation. International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 1-13.
- Doorley, J. D., Kashdan, T. B., Weppner, C. H., & Glass, C. R. (2022). The effects of self- compassion on daily emotion regulation and performance rebound among college athletes: Comparisons with confidence, grit, and hope. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 58, 102081.
- Ferguson, L. J., Kowalski, K. C., Mack, D. E., & Sabiston, C. M. (2014). Exploring self- compassion and eudaimonic well-being in young women athletes. Journal of sport & exercise psychology, 36(2), 203-216.
- Ferguson, L. J., Kowalski, K. C., Mack, D. E., & Sabiston, C. M. (2015). Self-compassion and Eudaimonic Well-Being During Emotionally Difficult Times in Sport. Journal of Happiness Studies, 16(5), 1263-1280.
- Mosewich, A. D. (2020). Self-compassion in sport and exercise. In Handbook of Sport Psychology (pp. 158–176). John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
- Mosewich, A. D., Kowalski, K. C., Sabiston, C. M., Sedgwick, W. A., & Tracy, J. L. (2011). Self-compassion: A potential resource for young women athletes. Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 33, 103-123.
- Mosewich, A. D., Ferguson, L. J., McHugh, T. L. F., & Kowalski, K. C. (2019). Enhancing capacity: Integrating self-compassion in sport. Journal of Sport Psychology in Action, 1-9.
- Pila, E., Gilchrist, J. D., Kowalski, K. C., & Sabiston, C. M. (2022). Self-compassion and body- related self-conscious emotions: Examining within- and between-person variation among adolescent girls in sport. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 58, 102083.
- Sutherland, L. M., Kowalski, K. C., Ferguson, L. J., Sabiston, C. M., Sedgwick, W. A., & Crocker, P. R. (2014). Narratives of young women athletes’ experiences of emotional pain and self-compassion. Qualitative research in sport, exercise and health, 6(4), 499-516.
Any questions, please contact us to discuss. And feel free to bookmark this page as we will update the information later.