The Effectiveness of Mindfulness-Acceptance-Commitment Therapy to Decrease Anxiety and Stress in College Athletes

Background: Elite athletes experience up to 640 stressors daily that can impact their mental health, such as injuries, inadequate financial support, and team dynamics. The NCAA found that female athletes endorsed feeling overwhelmed with anxiety, mentally exhausted, and feeling overwhelmed by all they have to do two times more likely than their male counterparts. Current research suggest Mindfulness-Acceptance-Commitment (MAC) therapy is more effective in improving mental health in athletes compared to other sports therapies.

Local Problem: The southeastern university’s mental health and wellness department currently follows the NCAA’s mental health practice recommendations (UT Sports, 2018). While the athletics department has several resources for its athletes, including access to nutritional education and assessments, psychiatric screenings, substance abuse counseling, and sports medicine treatment, implementing a program such as MAC instills lifelong skills with wide-ranging benefits for their lives within and beyond athletics. The aim of this project is to decrease anxiety and stress in the university’s athletes.

Methods: The model for improvement (MFI) provided the framework for project implementation. Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycles were used before implementation and after week 3 to guide the format of weekly group meetings. Project scales were distributed at weeks 1, 3, and 7 to determine participants’ progress and project efficacy.

Interventions: For seven weeks, athletes were taught weekly mindfulness in a group setting and participated in one form of outside mindfulness throughout the week.

Results: Reported sports anxiety scores decreased from 60 to 56, and emotional regulation difficulties decreased from 44 to 27.3.

Conclusion: Implementation of MAC therapy significantly decreased athletes’ reports of sports anxiety and emotional regulation difficulties. Sustainability plans include training mental health and wellness staff and implementing therapy during a team’s preseason.