An Eight-Week Mindful Self-Compassion Intervention Fosters Emotion Regulation and Resilience in Youth Athletes

Abstract

Abstract Self-compassion interventions are increasingly used to support young people’s well-being, yet how youth athletes understand and learn relevant concepts and tools remains unexamined. This study investigated youth athletes’ perceived mechanisms of change and psychological skills following participation in the 8-week Self-Compassion, Mindfulness, & Athlete Resilience Training (SMART) program. Thirty-three athletes ages 13–18 across five school and club sport groups in the U.S. completed semi-structured one-on-one interviews one to two weeks after program completion. Reflexive thematic analysis, informed by a critical realist perspective, generated four themes: (1) Noticing What Was There Before—a new capacity to recognize and name previously unidentified thoughts and emotions; (2) Turning Inner Critic Into Inner Coach—a shift from self-criticism toward self-kindness and common humanity following mistakes; (3) Managing Emotion and Promoting Resilience to Perform—the use of psychological techniques such as breathwork, meditation, and self-talk to regulate stress and setback; and (4) Carrying It Off the Field—the unprompted transfer of self-compassion concepts and tools into academic and everyday nonsport settings. Findings suggest a sport-specific, structured mindful self-compassion program can be a meaningful entry point for skills that extend beyond the performance context, offering evidence to ongoing efforts to distinguish and integrate disposition mindfulness and interventions for youth mental health.