Neurofeedback versus mindfulness on young football players anxiety and performance
Seyed Mohammad Zadkhosh, Hassan Gharayagh Zandi̇, Rasool Hemayattalab
Turkish Journal of Kinesiology December 30, 2018 DOI: 10.31459/turkjkin.467470 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Randomized controlled trial Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 45 |
| Population | Young Iranian football players |
| Interventions | Alpha/theta neurofeedback training Mindfulness training |
| Duration | Twelve sessions of 30 minutes each |
| Measures | Sport Anxiety Scale, Shoot performance test |
| Topics | Anxiety Meditation |
| Key findings | Both alpha/theta neurofeedback and mindfulness training significantly improved shooting performance and reduced sport anxiety scores compared with no intervention. The two experimental groups did not differ significantly in athletic performance, but they differed significantly on the Sport Anxiety Scale, with the mindfulness group compared to the neurofeedback group. |
Abstract
Nowadays, in athletic world exercise and physical practice are not only tools to achieve peak performance. In high level of athletic activities there are not so differences based on skilfulness and psychological differences determinant winner or loser. Athletes have to compete in anxiety situations and in reaction to these situations are experiencing excitement. Mindfulness and Neurofeedback interventions are included interventions that are used in the field of psychology, particularly sport psychology that includes two disparate aspects of psychological interventions i.e. technological and traditional. Therefore in this study, we examined the effects of Mindfulness and Neurofeedback interventions on the level of Sport Anxiety and Athletic performance of young football players. In this study, 45 Iranian Football players were assigned to three groups. Athletes in group 1 received twelve-session, 30-minute alpha/theta neurofeedback training, in group 2 received twelve-session, 30-minutes mindfulness training and control group did not receive any intervention. Sport Anxiety Scale and Shoot performance test were used for quantitative comparisons. The results of MANOVA showed that improvement of athletic performance scores and reduction of anxiety scale were significant in both experimental groups. In addition, there were not significant differences between both experimental groups in athletic performance, but there were significantly different between mindfulness groups compared to the neurofeedback group in sport anxiety scale. According to these findings, we concluded the alpha/theta neurofeedback training and mindfulness meditation training are appropriate to increase athletic performance and decrease level of sport anxiety.
Comparable studies
Other randomized controlled trials on anxiety, most cited first.
Citations in the library
Cites 5
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