A survey of "mental hardiness" and "mental toughness" in professional male football players
- PMID: 24735867
- PMCID: PMC4062893
- DOI: 10.1186/2045-709X-22-17
A survey of "mental hardiness" and "mental toughness" in professional male football players
Abstract
Background: It is not uncommon for chiropractors to be associated with sports teams for injury prevention, treatment, or performance enhancement. There is increasing acceptance of the importance of sports psychology in the overall management of athletes. Recent findings indicate mental hardiness can be determined reliably using specific self-assessment questionnaires. This study set out to investigate the hardiness scores of professional footballers and examine the correlation between two questionnaires. It also included a mental hardiness rating of players by two coaches, and examined differences in hardiness and mental toughness between national and international players.
Methods: Two self-assessment questionnaires (modified Sports Mental Toughness Questionnaire [SMTQ-M] and Psychological Performance Inventory [PPI-A]) were completed by 20 male professional footballers. Two coaches, independently rated each player. A percentage score from each questionnaire was awarded each player and an average score was calculated ({SMTQ-M % + PPI-A %} ÷ 2). The PPI-A and SMTQ-M scores obtained for each player were analysed for correlation with Pearson's correlation coefficient. Cohen's kappa inter-reliability coefficient was used to determine agreement between coaches, and between the players' hardiness scores and coaches' ratings. The independent t-test was used to examine differences between national and international players.
Results: The players' scores obtained from PPI-A and SMTQ-M correlated well (r = 0.709, p < 0.001). The coaches ratings showed significant, weak to moderate agreement (Cohen's kappa = 0.33). No significant agreement was found between player self-assessments and coaches' ratings. The average ({SMTQ-M % + PPI-A %} ÷ 2) mean score was 77% (SD = 7.98) with international players scoring 7.4% (p = 0.04) higher than non-international players.
Conclusions: The questionnaires (SMTQ-M and PPI-A) correlated well in their outcome scores. These findings suggest that coaches moderately agree when assessing the level of mental hardiness of football players. There was no agreement between player self-assessment and ratings by coaches. Footballers who play or had played for national teams achieved slightly higher mental hardiness scores. Either questionnaire can offer the clinician a cost-effective, valuable measure of an individual's psychological attributes, which could be relevant within the wider context of bio-psycho-social model of care.
Keywords: Male professional football players; Mental hardiness; Mental toughness; Survey.
Figures
Similar articles
-
A cross-national analysis of mental toughness and hardiness in elite university rugby league teams.Percept Mot Skills. 2009 Aug;109(1):213-23. doi: 10.2466/PMS.109.1.213-223. Percept Mot Skills. 2009. PMID: 19831102
-
Psychological characteristics in women football players: Skills, mental toughness, and anxiety.Scand J Psychol. 2019 Dec;60(6):609-615. doi: 10.1111/sjop.12571. Epub 2019 Sep 6. Scand J Psychol. 2019. PMID: 31489980
-
A cognitive-behavioural analysis of mental toughness in national rugby league football teams.Percept Mot Skills. 2003 Apr;96(2):455-62. Percept Mot Skills. 2003. PMID: 12776828
-
Treating the Football Athlete: Coaches' Perspective from the University of Michigan.Hand Clin. 2017 Feb;33(1):1-8. doi: 10.1016/j.hcl.2016.08.001. Hand Clin. 2017. PMID: 27886827 Free PMC article. Review.
-
Managing player load in professional rugby union: a review of current knowledge and practices.Br J Sports Med. 2017 Mar;51(5):421-427. doi: 10.1136/bjsports-2016-096191. Epub 2016 Aug 9. Br J Sports Med. 2017. PMID: 27506436 Review.
Cited by
-
Comparing mental toughness: An investigation on elite Indian standing and seated para-thrower athletes.J Public Health Afr. 2022 Dec 7;13(Suppl 2):2422. doi: 10.4081/jphia.2022.2422. eCollection 2022 Dec 7. J Public Health Afr. 2022. PMID: 37497135 Free PMC article.
-
Mental toughness in the Football Association Women's Super League: Relationships with playing experience, perceptions of club infrastructure, support mechanisms and self-esteem.PLoS One. 2023 May 17;18(5):e0285594. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0285594. eCollection 2023. PLoS One. 2023. PMID: 37195972 Free PMC article.
-
Influence of Psychological Factors on the Success of the Ultra-Trail Runner.Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Mar 8;18(5):2704. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18052704. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021. PMID: 33800167 Free PMC article.
-
Mental toughness and self-efficacy of elite ultra-marathon runners.PLoS One. 2020 Nov 4;15(11):e0241284. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0241284. eCollection 2020. PLoS One. 2020. PMID: 33147236 Free PMC article.
-
Do Injured Adolescent Athletes and Their Parents Agree on the Athletes' Level of Psychologic and Physical Functioning?Clin Orthop Relat Res. 2018 Apr;476(4):767-775. doi: 10.1007/s11999.0000000000000071. Clin Orthop Relat Res. 2018. PMID: 29480883 Free PMC article.
References
-
- Kobasa S. Stressful life events, personality and health: An inquiry into hardiness. J Pers Soc Psychol. 1979;37:1–11. - PubMed
-
- Kobasa S, Maddi S, Khan S. Hardiness and health: A prospective study. J Pers Soc Psychol. 1982;42:168–177. - PubMed
-
- Golby J, Sheard M, Lavallee D. A cognitive-behavioural analysis of mental toughness in national rugby league football teams. Percept Mot Skills. 2003;96(2):455–462. - PubMed
-
- Seligman M, Csikszentmihalyi M. Positive psychology: An introduction. Am Psychol. 2000;55:5–14. - PubMed
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources
Other Literature Sources