Effects of Psychological Interventions to Enhance Athletic Performance: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Abstract
Background: Psychological interventions are commonly applied in sports to help athletes enhance their performance, but the effect psychological interventions have on actual performance is unclear despite decades of research.
Objective: We conducted a systematic review with meta-analyses to investigate the effects of a wide range of psychological interventions on performance in competitive athletes.
Methods: A study protocol was preregistered in PROSPERO, and a literary search was performed in the MEDLINE, PsycINFO, Web of Science, and SPORTDiscus databases. Psychological intervention studies were eligible by using a group design and a quantitative performance outcome with athletes competing at a regional or university level or higher. Included studies were assessed regarding intervention characteristics, research methodology, and risk of bias. A multi-level meta-analysis framework with cluster robust variance estimation was used to quantitatively synthesize the results.
Results: A total of 111 studies met the inclusion criteria, and 25 of these studies (37 effects) could be synthesized into five meta-analyses in which there were similarities in the type of psychological intervention, comparator, and experimental design. Meta-analyses I (multimodal psychological skills training vs control), II (mindfulness- and acceptance-based approaches vs control), and III (imagery vs control) consisted of parallel-group studies, and random-effects models were used to calculate the…
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