Examining the effects of the Mindfulness-Acceptance-Commitment (MAC) programme on sport-specific dispositional mindfulness, sport anxiety, and experiential acceptance in Martial Arts
Torbjorn Josefsson, Henrik Gustafsson, Paul Robinson, Magnus Cedenblad, Elin Sievert, Andreas Ivarsson
Scandinavian Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology April 10, 2024 DOI: 10.7146/sjsep.v6i.140996 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Controlled intervention study with inactive control group (Bayesian repeated measures ANOVA) Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 45 |
| Population | Martial arts athletes |
| Intervention | Mindfulness-Acceptance-Commitment (MAC) programme |
| Measures | AMQ, BEAQ, SAS-2 |
| Topics | Anxiety Meditation |
| Key points | The MAC programme produced greater increases over time in sport-specific mindfulness subscales of awareness and acceptance compared with an inactive control group, but no interaction effects were found for present moment attention, experiential acceptance, or sport anxiety. |
Abstract
The aim of the study was to examine effects of the Mindfulness-Acceptance-Commitment (MAC) programme on sport-specific dispositional mindfulness, sport anxiety, and experiential acceptance, compared to an inactive control group, in a population of Martial Arts (MA) athletes. Twenty-three MA athletes were subjected to the MAC intervention, and 22 MA athletes comprised the control group. To analyse potential differences in the outcome variables between the two groups, Bayesian repeated measures analysis of variance (RM-ANOVA) was used. Findings showed that the MAC-group had greater increases over time in the sport-specific mindfulness subscales awareness and acceptance and acceptance, compared to the control group. In contrast, no interaction effects were found for present moment attention (AMQ), experiential acceptance (BEAQ), and sport anxiety (SAS-2). Overall, the present study adds further information and understanding about the effectiveness and implementation of the MAC programme.
Citations in the library
Cited by 2
- Intervention research on cultivating psychological resilience in adolescent athletes: an empirical analysis based on mindfulness training. Frontiers in Psychology December 4, 2025
- Mindfulness-based interventions for competitive anxiety in athletes: the moderating role of control type-Preliminary evidence from a systematic review and meta-analysis. Frontiers in Psychology May 28, 2026
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