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Behavioral Sciences
Special Issues
Psychological Stress, Well-Being, and Performance in Sport
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Psychological Stress, Well-Being, and Performance in Sport

A special issue of Behavioral Sciences (ISSN 2076-328X). This special issue belongs to the section "Health Psychology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 10 July 2026 | Viewed by 1237

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Mark Thompson

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Psychology Department, London Metropolitan University, London N7 8DB, UK
Interests: sport psychology; stress appraisals; emotions; coping; performance; anti-doping
Dr. Raymon Hunte

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Social Sciences and Professions, London Metropolitan University, London N7 8DB, UK
Interests: self control; motivation; performance

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

For many athletes and those who support them, the term “playing sport” can feel oxymoronic. Modern sporting environments are often characterised not only by high performance demands but also by pervasive psychological stress that can overshadow the enjoyment, personal development, and holistic well-being that sports can foster. Regardless of an athlete’s level in sports, if the stress that they experience becomes too difficult to manage, it can affect their function, day-to-day well-being, and performance. It also has important longer-term effects on motivation, mental health, and overall long-term well-being.

Because psychological stress influences so many aspects of an athlete's experience, it continues to be a key topic in sport psychology. This Special Issue aims to advance the literature on related concepts such as, but not limited to, stressors, emotions, coping, resilience, well-being, and performance from an interdisciplinary perspective. We particularly welcome theoretical and empirical contributions on the factors, processes, and mechanisms that support not only effective sporting performance but also healthy development, positive experiences, and long-term well-being for everyone involved in sports.

Dr. Mark Thompson
Dr. Raymon Hunte
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Behavioral Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • stress
  • appraisals
  • emotions
  • coping
  • performance
  • resilience
  • well-being
  • psychophysiology
  • performance
  • anti-doping

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

17 pages, 859 KB  
Article
Tai Chi Training and Pre-Competition Anxiety in High-Level Competitive Athletes: A Chain Mediation Model of Flow and Mental Toughness
by Runze Guo and Jing Liu
Behav. Sci. 2026, 16(2), 163; https://doi.org/10.3390/bs16020163 - 23 Jan 2026
Viewed by 753
Abstract
With the increasing competition in elite sports, pre-competition anxiety has become increasingly prevalent among high-level competitive athletes, and high levels of such anxiety may impair sports performance and threaten athletes’ psychological health. Traditional psychological interventions (e.g., cognitive-behavioral therapy) are often poorly accepted and [...] Read more.
With the increasing competition in elite sports, pre-competition anxiety has become increasingly prevalent among high-level competitive athletes, and high levels of such anxiety may impair sports performance and threaten athletes’ psychological health. Traditional psychological interventions (e.g., cognitive-behavioral therapy) are often poorly accepted and costly; however, pre-competition anxiety in these athletes may be alleviated through multiple pathways of traditional mind–body exercises like Tai Chi. Yet, the psychological mechanism by which mind–body exercises such as Tai Chi training influence pre-competition anxiety remains insufficiently explored, particularly the chain-mediating effect of the “flow experience → mental toughness” pathway. This study thus aimed to investigate the impact of Tai Chi training on pre-competition anxiety in high-level competitive athletes and verify the chain-mediating role of the “flow experience → mental toughness” pathway, thereby providing a theoretical basis and practical reference for sports psychology interventions. Using a randomized controlled experimental design, 86 high-level competitive athletes were randomly divided into an experimental group (n = 43) and a control group (n = 43). The experimental group received standardized Tai Chi training for 8 weeks, while the control group maintained their regular training regimen. Data were collected at baseline, week 4, and week 8 of the intervention using the Competition State Anxiety Inventory-2 (CSAI-2), Flow State Scale-2 (FSS-2), and Sport Mental Toughness Questionnaire (SMTQ), and chain-mediating effects were tested via hierarchical regression analysis and the bootstrap method with 5000 resamples. The results indicated that Tai Chi training could reduce pre-competition anxiety levels (β = −0.30, p < 0.5), and both flow experience (β = 0.38, p < 0.5) and mental toughness (β = 0.21, p < 0.5) exerted significant mediating effects. The chain mediation model further revealed that Tai Chi training alleviated pre-competition anxiety by enhancing flow experience and improving mental toughness sequentially (β = 0.01, 95% CI [0.00, 0.03]), accounting for 78.9% of the total mediated effect. In conclusion, Tai Chi training is associated with reduced pre-competition anxiety in high-level competitive athletes, and this relationship is statistically mediated by the sequential pathway of flow experience and mental toughness. These findings offer a new theoretical basis and practical direction for mind–body interventions in sports psychology. It should be noted that future research could further optimize and refine the intervention protocol, and explore the underlying mechanism of mind–body interventions at the neurobiological level. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Psychological Stress, Well-Being, and Performance in Sport)
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