Living your best life: The mindful pursuit of student-athlete thriving

Abstract

Thriving, or the concurrent experience of healthy well-being and high-level performance, may serve as a valuable construct when studying the optimal student-athlete experience. Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) have been shown to positively impact well-being and performance, yet these interventions rarely use thriving as an outcome variable with athletes. The purpose of the present study began to examine the impact of an MBI for improving student-athlete experiences of thriving via a quasi-experimental longitudinal design. College athletes from the United States (n = 55) from three sports were randomly assigned to either a control or a 7-session MBI. While comprehensive measures of thriving did not yield significant change for those in the MBI relative to the control, multiple thriving characteristics and outcomes were improved after the intervention compared to the control group. MBI participants reported significant improvement for subjective performance satisfaction, mindful awareness, and the use of mindfulness to regulate emotions. Exploratory analysis revealed those in the MBI, relative to the control, experienced improvements of optimism and a sense of meaning and purpose. Student-athletes qualitatively reported sport and life benefits related to thriving (e.g., self-regulation, focus, awareness, vitality, intentional actions) while also suggesting improving MBIs with systematic reminders to meditate, more meditation opportunities within the sport environment, and autonomy-supportive instruction. These preliminary data support the use of MBIs to facilitate characteristics and outcomes of thriving, while also offering suggestions for practical improvements when implementing MBIs with student-athletes.