The Effects of Psychological Skills Training on Mental Toughness and Psychological Well-Being of Student-Athletes

This study examined the effects of a psychological skills intervention (PST) designed to enhance the mental toughness and psychological well-being of student-athlete rowers (N = 16). Within this context, PWB was conceptualized by an amalgamation of the following psychological constructs; self-esteem, perceived self-efficacy, positive affect and dispositional optimism. Progress was examined at three times evenly dispersed over the course of the six-month intervention, pre-, midand post-intervention. The intervention was solution-focused and informed by Dweck's (2009) theory of a growth mindset and Goldberg's (1998) psychological strategies to develop mental toughness. The study design was a 2 (group) 3 (time) two-way MANOVA with repeated measures on one factor (time). Various measures of mental toughness and positive psychological constructs were utilised. Over the course of the intervention, MT significantly improved, in addition to perceived self-efficacy, self-esteem and positive affect. Positive significant relationships were observed between components of MT and each of the positive measures; which lends support to the conceptualization of MT as a positive psychological construct which fosters positive psychological states (Clough & Strycharczyk, 2012). Further research is warranted to examine the development of MT on negative psychological constructs.