Relationships among athletes' challenge and threat perceptions, mindfulness, and anxiety

Karademir M., Çalisir M., Yildiz A., Tolukan E., Zararsiz S., Aydin B., ...Daha Fazla

FRONTIERS IN PSYCHOLOGY, cilt.17, ss.1811878, 2026 (SSCI, Scopus)

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 17
  • Basım Tarihi: 2026
  • Doi Numarası: 10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1811878
  • Dergi Adı: FRONTIERS IN PSYCHOLOGY
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus, IBZ Online, Linguistic Bibliography, MLA - Modern Language Association Database, Psycinfo, Directory of Open Access Journals
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.1811878
  • Anahtar Kelimeler: challenge perception, mindfulness, sport anxiety, athletes, threat perception
  • Ankara Yıldırım Beyazıt Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

The aim of this study was to examine the associations between athletes' challenge and threat perceptions and sport anxiety, and to evaluate the role of mindfulness in these relationships in terms of moderation and indirect effects (mediation). A total of 291 athletes from different sport branches participated in the study. Data were collected using the Challenge and Threat in Sport Scale, the Athlete Mindfulness Scale, and the Sport Anxiety Scale. Descriptive statistics and correlations were computed; regression-based models corresponding to PROCESS Model 1 were used for moderation analyses, and PROCESS Model 4 for indirect-effect analyses, with indirect effects evaluated using 5,000 bootstrap samples. The findings indicated that mindfulness was negatively associated with sport anxiety, whereas threat perception was positively associated with sport anxiety. In the moderation models, the mindfulness × (challenge/threat) interaction terms were not significant, and the incremental contribution of the interaction to the models was negligible (?R² < .002). However, indirect-effect analyses showed significant indirect effects through mindfulness: for challenge ? mindfulness ? anxiety, the indirect effect was ab = -0.202 (95% CI [-0.300, -0.118]); and for threat ? mindfulness ? anxiety, the indirect effect was ab = 0.099 (95% CI [0.050, 0.160]). Overall, the results suggest that mindfulness may function as a mechanism linking athletes' cognitive appraisal processes to anxiety levels.