The Effects of Mental Training on Acute Psychophysiological Stress Responses in Endurance Athletes
Authors: Kujala Shelanda Antonia Maria 
Published: March 2023

Introduction: In sports, pre-competition stress responses can influence performance. Mental skills training is a strategy used
to successfully mitigate stress responses and positively impact performance. Psychological (e.g., anxiety) and physiological (e.g., cortisol)
stress responses are not often measured in a single study, providing an incomplete picture of athlete experiences. When researchers have
measured these constructs together, studies have excluded endurance athletes and ways to effectively buffer stress
responses. Purpose: The current study had two aims. 1. How will athlete’s perceptions of stress and physiological markers of
stress be related to each other? 2. How will athlete’s perceptions of stress and physiological markers of stress be impacted by a mental skills
training program? Hypothesis: H1: It was hypothesized that perceptions of stress will be positively correlated to physiological
markers of stress. H2: It was hypothesized that athletes who participate in the three mental training sessions would have lower levels of
acute pre-competition psychological (anxiety) and physiological (salivary cortisol levels) stress responses prior to
races. Methods: Twenty-one endurance athletes were recruited from two local high school cross country running teams.
Cortisol and anxiety testing occurred on three occasions (Baseline, Time 1, and Time 2). Participants completed three mental training
sessions between Time 1 and Time 2. Mental skills training included relaxation and breathing, imagery, and self-talk. Anxiety was quantified
using the Competitive State Anxiety Inventory (CSAI-2R). Salivary cortisol levels were analyzed at the Salimetrics
lab. Statistical Analysis: A one- way repeated measures ANOVA (Time) assessed anxiety, and cortisol levels. Bivariate correlations
were conducted to assess the relationships between the study variables. One-way ANOVAs also assessed the association between reported stress the
week prior to testing, school, gender and cortisol, self-confidence, and anxiety Results: The ANOVA results showed no statistically
significant changes between variables of cortisol, anxiety and self-confidence at different times. Statistically significant positive
correlations were found between self-confidence at B, T1 and T2 testing, and significant a negative correlation was found between anxiety
and self-confidence at Baseline testing. The relationship between reported high levels of stress the week prior to T2 and high levels of
cortisol at T2 testing was statistically significant as was the relationship between cortisol and school at Baseline
testing. Discussion: A small sample size likely contributed to the low number of statistically significant results. The relationship
between stress the week prior to T2 and cortisol points to the importance of focusing on mental skills training through an entire season versus
just the few days prior to competition. The significance between cortisol and school at B testing was a result of cold weather during testing
conditions and points to the need to consider time of day and other conditions when interpreting cortisol results. Future studies should
include more participants in a longer study design.