The effects of a mindfulness and acceptance-based training programon relevant psychological factors and sport training performance in Hong Kong Elite Adolescent Athletes /

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Student Theses

2020

Su, Ning

Thesis

Objectives: This research aimed to examine the effectiveness of a specifically designed mindfulness-acceptance-insight-commitment (MAIC) training program on relevant psychological factors (i.e., mindfulness, acceptance, performance-related satisfaction) and sport training performance for elite adolescent athletes from Hong Kong. And it also aimed to explore the athletes’ real experiences (i.e., receptiveness and perceptions) of completing the MAIC program. Two studies were included in this research. The objective of study I, as a pilot study for study II, was to preliminarily testify the effectiveness of the MAIC. The objective of study II was to further examine the effectiveness of the MAIC, and explore the real experiences of the athletes towards the MAIC program. Methods & Design: A multiple-baseline single case design was used in study I to preliminarily evaluate the effectiveness of the MAIC in four adolescent elite athletes from the Hong Kong Sports Institute (HKSI). The mixed-method was used in study II, including a randomized controlled trial (RCT) part and a qualitative exploration part. The RCT part was conducted through a 2 (groups) x 3 (data collection points) design with 40 athletes, who were randomly assigned in to the MAIC training group (MT; n = 20, Mage = 15.65) and the control group (CG; n = 20, Mage = 15.85), to further testify the effectiveness of the MAIC on the athletes from the HKSI. Following the RCT part, the qualitative part was used to explore the athletes’ real experiences towards the MAIC program. In this part, all athletes participating in the MAIC program were invited to join a semi-structure interview voluntarily, yet only 14 of 20 volunteered to take the interview, respectively. The Visual Analysis and Non-Overlap of All Pairs (NAP) were used for study I, and 2x3 mixed-design ANOVA and thematic analysis were used for study II.Results: The results revealed that the MAIC training program was effective on improving the athletes’ mindfulness, acceptance, performance-related satisfaction, and sport training performance. However, the effects on the mindfulness, acceptance, performance-related satisfaction and sport training performance all dropped at the following-up data point compared to post-training, and the acceptance level of the MT athletes didn’t have significant difference from the CG athletes at the following-up data point. Furthermore, through the thematic analysis, the qualitative part of study II generated four general dimensions, including (a) Attitude towards to the MAIC training, (b) Reflection on the MAIC learning process, (c) Outcome of the MAIC training, and (d) Recommendation for future MAIC training. Generally, results of the qualitative part were consistent with and supported the quantitative part, that gained in-depth understanding of the athletes’ real experience andprovided relevant suggestions for the MAIC’s further development.Conclusion: The findings suggested that the specifically designed MAIC training program in this research was effective on improving sport training performance and several psychological factors in elite adolescent athletes from Hong Kong. More researches are still needed to further examine and develop the MAIC training program

LG51.H43 Dr 2020eb Sun

https://educoll.lib.eduhk.hk/records/rhbvVtHj