Effects of Mindfulness-Acceptance-Insight-Commitment (MAIC) Training on Stress and Sleep Quality in Elite Swimmers: A Randomized Controlled Mixed-Methods Trial.
Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) June 29, 2026 Ning Su, Bingyan Zhang, Xiyu Zhou et al.
An 8-week Mindfulness-Acceptance-Insight-Commitment (MAIC) program, embedded in routine high-load training, reduced athlete-specific psychological stress and salivary cortisol, improved subjective sleep quality, and increased mindfulness in elite swimmers. In a randomized controlled mixed-methods trial with 30 elite swimmers from a Chinese provincial high-performance program, the MAIC group showed lower psychological strain and cortisol, better sleep quality, and higher mindfulness at post-intervention compared to a usual-practice control group. At three-month follow-up, improvements in psychological stress and mindfulness remained evident relative to baseline, while lower cortisol and better sleep quality remained evident relative to controls. Qualitative findings indicated that athletes found MAIC feasible, low-burden, and helpful for regulating cognitive reactivity and arousal.