An athlete’s psychological well-being plays a significant role in determining their performance. Since symptoms are not as direct to observe as those associated with physical, coaches and team doctors usually emphasize physical well-being while ignoring the psychological factors that equally impact the athlete’s performance. Psychological well-being factors can emanate from different sources, but most have a relationship with the social environment in which the athlete operates. Since pre-competition psychological well-being is important to an athlete’s performance, coaches and team doctors should emphasize athletes’ psychological as they do with physical well-being. This is because, for the doctors and coaches to mitigate and manage the factors impacting the athletes’ well-being, they must first be able to identify and classify them. Understanding the factors requires a thorough identification of underlying causes to identify proper strategies to mitigate the symptoms and return the athlete to proper pre-competition well-being.
There is broad literature about the psychological factors that can impact an athlete’s performance. Some psychological factors that affect athletes’ pre-competition psychological health and eventual performance include stress, anxiety, tension, and aggression (Bali 92). In his exploration of the factors, Bali defines the factors, describes how they affect athletes’ performance and describes strategies and mechanisms that athletes can use to mitigate or cope with them. According to the researcher, stress is only valid until the optimal level, beyond which stress is negatively associated with negative performance. At this level, mitigating strategies, including changing stimulus, changing athlete’s illogical fears, behavior rehearsal, biofeedback muscle relaxation, and other forms of therapy are initiated (Bali 93). Like stress, the optimal level of anxiety is called for good performance, beyond which corrective strategies are necessary. Mitigating strategies for negative anxiety include visualization, relaxation techniques, and diaphragmatic breathing (Bali 94). The other two psychological factors that need the athlete’s attention, the coach, and the team doctor are tension and aggression because they can also negatively affect the athlete’s performance. Bali’s exploration of the four psychological factors is simplistic in that the authors only handle the factors from the face. He does not give an in-depth description of the causes and how the strategies he proposes to deal with the causes mitigate the problem and ensure proper mental health. Also, the exploration is partial as it does not consider all critical factors, especially from the social environment, that impact performance, such as attention, cohesion, motivation, and interpersonal skills. The current paper will fill the gap by comprehensively considering the factors regarding their causes and respective strategies.
Unlike Bali, Chang et al. conducted a more inclusive and comprehensive study, including detection, prevention, management, and the impacts of several psychological factors on athlete performance. According to the authors, an athlete’s culture and environmental factors play a significant role in determining the athlete’s psychological health. On the other hand, personal attributes play an important role in helping athlete cope and manage their psychological challenges for better performance. The study includes psychological issues that negatively affect athlete performance during competition. The problems include personality issues, sexuality and gender issues, hazing, bullying, sexual misconduct from senior members of the team, disordered eating, depression, anxiety, sleep disorders, ADHD, and stress resulting from overtraining (Chang et al.). In managing the factors and associated disorders, the authors propose that physicians, coaches, and other team care members should collaborate and cooperate in helping their team members detect, prevent, manage, and treat the conditions for improved performance. The team care should understand the athlete’s personal issues and environmental factors that can impact athlete performance and how these variables negatively impact the athlete’s mental and, eventually, performance. Though comprehensive in its exploration of variables and factors that affect athlete performance regarding detection, prevention, management, and treatment, Chang et al. are not clear about the causes of these factors and how the environmental, cultural, and personal traits interact to bring about the psychological issues. Moreover, the articles give more weight to the management of the variables and factors than causes, which are essential in identifying preventive strategies.
Unlike the previous two studies, which explore the psychological factors and effects on performance and management, Jones et al. approach the factors from the treatment or intervention viewpoint. The researchers investigate the effectiveness of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), an intervention for psychological variables such as stress, depression, anxiety, and sleep disorders, as well as the athlete’s coping skills. According to the study, MBSR improves athletes’ mindfulness, which is essential for increasing psychological well-being. Increased mindfulness was also positively associated with improved subjective sleep quality and reduced subjective daytime sleep, implying improved overall sleep quality. Improved mindfulness due to the MBSR course was also associated with improved coping skills. The researchers advise that care teams should incorporate the MBSR training program in their training program because such inclusion helps the athletes improve their mindfulness. Improved mindfulness is a precursor to preventing the onset of several psychological disorders such as anxiety, depression, sleep disorder, and other psychological effects on the athlete. From the preceding, it is clear that the study only mentions some factors affecting athlete quality. It, however, proposes an intervention that can be used to prevent the onset of several disorders and manage them. The study is partial in that it does not explain the many factors affecting performance and ways of dealing with them. It also does not incorporate the role of culture, environment, and personality in bolstering the effectiveness of MBSR.
Rogers et al., like Jones et al., do not address the psychological factors directly. Instead, they investigate the effect of mental health issues on the risk of injury. According to them, mental health issue increases injury risks, prolong recovery time, increase the rate of injury recurrence, decrease return to sport, and reduce performance on return to the game. Injury, on the other hand, is found to negatively impact an athlete’s mental health through increasing stress, depression, anxiety, and other disorders, which delay the healing of the injury and return to the game. The researchers propose that athlete caretakers should have sufficient screening programs for early detection of mental health, support systems, and intervention strategies to break the chain explained above due to the barriers like stigma, identification, and inadequacy of resources that prevent the athletes from seeking appropriate treatment. The study only refers to mental health disorders in general without specifying specific disorders and underlying variables. It also does not highlight preventive and management strategies and their relationship with performance.
Like Rogers et al., Logue et al. do not directly address the problem of psychological factors and their effects on performance. Instead, they emphasize the impacts of low energy availability on the physical and mental health of the athletes. According to their findings, low energy availability can cause ailments that reduce athletes training attendance. It can also lead to menstrual irregularities and stress fractures, which can impact the psychological well-being of the athlete. The low energy availability, especially for female athletes, can cause psychological disorders such as eating disorders and obsessive-compulsive characteristics. These disorders can combine with stress, anxiety, and depression, making it harder for athletes to train and perform. As indicated earlier, the study is insufficient as it does not elaborate clearly on psychological factors, their prevention and management, and their impact on performance.
The current study seeks to explore the psychological factors that significantly affect the performance of athletes. It will be a wholesome study exploring factors from underlying causes to treatment and management. From the reviewed literature, it has been discovered that the available studies are fragmented in that none comprehensively examine the factors, such as causes, prevention, detection, management, and treatment. Moreover, some studies only emphasize treatment and intervention or the indirect relationship between the condition and performance. The current research will thus close these gaps in the literature by exploring the phenomenon comprehensively.
Works Cited
Bali, Ashwani. “Psychological Factors Affecting Sports Performance.” International Journal of Physical Education, Sports, and Health 1.6 (2015): 92-95. https://www.kheljournal.com/archives/2015/vol1issue6/PartB/1-5-77.pdf
Chang, Cindy J., et al. “Mental Health Issues And Psychological Factors In Athletes: Detection, Management, Effect On Performance, And Prevention: American Medical Society For Sports Medicine Position Statement.” Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine 30.2 (2020): e61-e87. https://journals.lww.com/cjsportsmed/fulltext/2020/03000/mental_health_issues_and_psychological_factors_in.8.aspx
Jones, Bethany J., et al. “Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Benefits Psychological Well-being, Sleep Quality, And Athletic Performance In Female Collegiate Rowers.” Frontiers in Psychology 11 (2020): 572980. https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.572980/full
Logue, Danielle M., et al. “Low Energy Availability In Athletes 2020: An Updated Narrative Review Of Prevalence, Risk, Within-Day Energy Balance, Knowledge, And Impact On Sports Performance.” Nutrients 12.3 (2020): 835. https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/12/3/835
Rogers, Davis L., et al. “How Mental Health Affects Injury Risk And Outcomes In Athletes.” Sports Health 16.2 (2024): 222-229. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/19417381231179678
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