Psychological and Psychosocial Effects of Contemplative Practices in the Athletic Population: A Systematic Review
Victoria Baker, Emily Duckett, A. Gardiner-Shires, Lindsey C. Keenan
Clinical Practice in Athletic Training 2025 DOI: 10.51221/sc.cli.2025.8.2.5 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Systematic review Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Athletes |
| Interventions | Mindfulness-Acceptance-Commitment (MAC) Psychological Skills Training (PST) Mindful Sport Performance Enhancement (MSPE) Mindfulness-integrated cognitive behavior therapy (MiCBT) Hatha yoga |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Key findings | The review suggests that contemplative practices, including MAC, PST, MSPE, MiCBT, and Hatha yoga, had a positive effect on athletes' mental health, specifically for anxiety and depression, across the seven included studies. |
Abstract
Mental health concerns in athletes are becoming a primary focus for institutions, companies, coaches, and more. An athlete carries an abundant load of stressors due to their lifestyle. The stressors can negatively impact an athlete by producing anxiety, depression, insomnia, and other mental health concerns. Previous studies have found a connection between the use of contemplative practices on psychological and psychosocial effects in athletes, creating an opportunity to evaluate the research of contemplative practices in the athletic population. 5, 7, 8, 13-16 A systematic review was conducted using nine electronic databases. Seven studies were included in this review, each assessing how contemplative practices affect the mental health of athletes. The Mindfulness-Acceptance-Commitment (MAC), Psychological Skills Training (PST), Mindful Sport Performance Enhancement (MSPE), Mindfulness-integrated cognitive behavior therapy (MiCBT), and Hatha yoga were the most utilized interventions in the reviewed literature. Results suggested that the interventions had a positive effect on an athlete’s mental health, specifically related to anxiety and depression. Discovering the effects of contemplative practices will help healthcare providers, and others who work directly with the athletes, provide the best quality care.
Comparable studies
Other systematic reviews and meta-analyses on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meditation Programs for Psychological Stress and Well-being Diverse adult clinical populations | 2014 | Meta-analysis | n = 3,515 |
| Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction for Stress Management in Healthy People: A Review and Meta-Analysis Healthy subjects | 2009 | Systematic review and meta-analysis | |
| The psychological effects of meditation: A meta-analysis. Nonclinical groups of adult meditators | 2012 | Meta-analysis | n = 163 |
| Efficacy of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy in Prevention of Depressive Relapse Adults with recurrent depression in full or partial remission | 2016 | Meta-analysis of individual patient data from randomized controlled trials | n = 1,258 |
| Mindfulness‐Based Stress Reduction and Mindfulness‐Based Cognitive Therapy – a systematic review of randomized controlled trials | 2011 | Systematic review |