Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Benefits Psychological Well-Being, Sleep Quality, and Athletic Performance in Female Collegiate Rowers
Bethany J. Jones, Sukhmanjit Kaur, Michele Miller, R. Spencer
Frontiers in Psychology September 1, 2020 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.572980 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Controlled experimental design Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Members of a Division I NCAA Women's Rowing team |
| Intervention | Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) |
| Duration | 8-week intervention |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Key findings | Mindfulness-based stress reduction improved psychological well-being, sleep quality, athletic coping skills, and rowing performance in collegiate rowers. |
Abstract
Factors such as psychological well-being, sleep quality, and athletic coping skills can influence athletic performance. Mindfulness-based interventions, including mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), have been shown to benefit these factors, suggesting they may, at least indirectly, benefit athletic performance. Moreover, while mindfulness training has been linked to better accuracy in some high-precision sports, whether it can improve non-precision elements of athletic performance is unclear. The objective of this study was to investigate the influence of MBSR on psychological well-being, sleep, athletic coping skills, and rowing performance in collegiate rowers in a controlled experimental design. Members of a Division I NCAA Women’s Rowing team completed either an 8-week MBSR course along with their regular athletic training program (Intervention group) or the athletic training program alone (Control group). Measurements of interest were taken at baseline and again either during or shortly following the intervention. In contrast to the Control group, the Intervention group showed improvements in psychological well-being, subjective and objective sleep quality, athletic coping skills, and rowing performance as measured by a 6,000-m ergometer test. Improvements in athletic coping skills, psychological well-being, and subjective sleep quality were all correlated with increases in mindfulness in the Intervention group. These results suggest that mindfulness training may benefit non-precision aspects of athletic performance. Incorporating mindfulness training into athletic training programs may benefit quality of life and performance in student athletes.
Comparable studies
Other experimental studies on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| The benefits of being present: Mindfulness and its role in psychological well-being. Cancer patients (clinical intervention study) | 2003 | Mixed methods: scale development, correlational, quasi-experimental, laboratory, experience-sampling, and clinical intervention study | |
| Loving-kindness meditation increases social connectedness. | 2008 | Controlled laboratory experiment | |
| Mindfulness and mind-wandering: Finding convergence through opposing constructs. | 2012 | Two studies: correlational study and experimental study | |
| Mental Training Enhances Attentional Stability: Neural and Behavioral Evidence | 2009 | Experimental study | |
| Mindfulness meditation and substance use in an incarcerated population. Incarcerated population | 2006 | Quasi-experimental with treatment-as-usual control condition |
Citations in the library
Cited by 29
- Effects of mindfulness training on resilience, self-confidence and emotion regulation of elite football players: The mediating role of locus of control Asian Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology August 13, 2022
- Effect of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) program on depression, emotion regulation, and sleep problems: A randomized controlled trial study on depressed elderly. BMC Public Health January 23, 2024
- Examining the Effects of Mindfulness–Acceptance–Commitment Training on Self-Compassion and Grit among Elite Female Athletes International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health December 23, 2021
- A rowing-specific mindfulness intervention: Effects on mindfulness, flow, reinvestment, and performance Frontiers in Psychology September 7, 2022
- The effect of mindfulness training on the psychological state of high-level athletes: Meta analysis and system evaluation research. Journal of Sports Sciences March 1, 2025
and 24 more in the library
Cites 11
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- The effect of mindfulness meditation on sleep quality: a systematic review and meta‐analysis of randomized controlled trials Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences December 21, 2018
- The effect of meditation on shooting performance. British journal of sports medicine December 1, 1996
- Effect of Brief Mindfulness Induction on University Athletes’ Sleep Quality Following Night Training Frontiers in Psychology April 12, 2018
and 6 more in the library