Effect of brief mindfulness and relaxation inductions on anxiety, affect and brain activation in athletes

Jui-Ti Nien; Diane L Gill; Ting-Yin Chou; Chen-Shuo Liu; Xiaoling Geng; Tsung-Min Hung; Yu-Kai Chang

doi:10.1016/j.psychsport.2023.102422

Effect of brief mindfulness and relaxation inductions on anxiety, affect and brain activation in athletes

Psychol Sport Exerc. 2023 Jul:67:102422. doi: 10.1016/j.psychsport.2023.102422. Epub 2023 Mar 12.

Authors

Jui-Ti Nien¹, Diane L Gill², Ting-Yin Chou³, Chen-Shuo Liu⁴, Xiaoling Geng¹, Tsung-Min Hung⁵, Yu-Kai Chang⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan.
² Department of Kinesiology, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, NC, USA.
³ Department of Sports Training Science-Athletics, National Taiwan Sport University, Taoyuan, Taiwan.
⁴ Department of Sports Training Science-Combats, National Taiwan Sport University, Taoyuan, Taiwan.
⁵ Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan; Institute for Research Excellence in Learning Science, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan.
⁶ Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan; Institute for Research Excellence in Learning Science, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan. Electronic address: yukaichangnew@gmail.com.

PMID: 37665875
DOI: 10.1016/j.psychsport.2023.102422

Abstract

The mindfulness-based intervention and psychological skills training are often used for maintaining the mental health or reducing undesirable mental states in athletes. However, their differences in acute effects on mental health and underlying neural mechanism are not well understood. Therefore, the purpose of the current study was to examine the differential effects of brief mindfulness induction (MI) and relaxation induction (RI) on state anxiety, affect and brain activation. Thirty-five track and field athletes were recruited for this study. Using a within-subjects crossover design, participants underwent three conditions that incorporated two 30-min experimental conditions (i.e., MI or RI) and a control condition. State anxiety and affect were assessed before and after intervention, and brain activation (i.e., theta, alpha bands) were recorded by electroencephalography (EEG) during each 30-min condition. Repeated measures analysis of variance revealed that MI and RI similarly reduced state anxiety and negative affect from pre-test to post-test compared to the control condition. In terms of positive affect, there were no significant differences among the three conditions across times. Furthermore, participants exhibited higher frontal theta power during the MI and RI than control condition, whereas no differences in alpha power were observed among conditions. The current study provides initial evidence from an electrophysiological perspective that brief MI and RI both improve the negative psychological states in individual sport athletes through similar neural mechanisms. Nevertheless, the moderating effects of training experiences and long-term interventions on mental state and EEG activity in athletes need further investigation in future studies.

Keywords: Cognitive resource; EEG; Mental health; Mindfulness; Relaxation.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Affect
Anxiety* / therapy
Athletes* / psychology
Brain
Cross-Over Studies
Humans
Mindfulness*