Mindfulness-Based Peak Performance, Endurance Performance Under Pressure, Performance-relevant Mental Attributes

NCT05612295 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: PACNL_MBPP_Stress
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 97
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The primary aim of this study is to conduct a well-designed trial to investigate the effect of an MBI program entitled Mindfulness-based Peak Performance (MBPP) on endurance performance under pressure from an interdisciplinary approach of sport psychology, sports training, and cognitive neuroscience. The secondary aim is to examine the effect of MBPP program on performance-relevant mental attributes in behavioral and neurocognitive assessments. The present study hypothesizes that the MBPP and self-talk groups will improve performance under pressure, but MBPP is expected to show greater improvement than ST. Additionally, we expect the MBPP will improve the relevant mental attributes.

Conditions

Sport Performance; Mindfulness; Neurocognitive Function; Stress

Keywords

mindfulness intervention; sport performance under pressure; Neurocognitive function

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (10)

• Endurance performance: Change in time to exhaustion

  Time to exhaustion (TTE) will be one of the measured variables of endurance performance and be evaluated via a graded exercise test (GXT) on a motor-driven treadmill.

  30 minutes each at the Baseline-Assessment and at the Post-Assessment

• Endurance performance: Change in maximum oxygen consumption

  Maximum oxygen consumption (VO2max) will be one of the measured variables of endurance performance and be evaluated via a computerized indirect calorimetry system throughout the whole graded exercise test (GXT) on a motor-driven treadmill.

  30 minutes each at the Baseline-Assessment and at the Post-Assessment

• Endocrine stress responses

  Before and after pressure manipulation, and after endurance performance measure, stress responses of endocrine assessments will be assessed. Specifically, salivary cortisol (sCort) and salivary alpha-amylases (sAA) will be collected using the commercially available sampling devices.

  1 minutes for each sampling

• Subjective stress responses

  The participants' subjective perception of stress will be assessed via the Chinese version of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (C-STAI) (Wang and Chung, 2016) modified from the original version of STAI (Spielberger et al., 1971). The state subscale of the STAI will be the index of state anxiety influenced by pressure manipulation.

  5 minutes for each assessment

• Change in emotion regulation

  The Chinese version of the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (C-DERS) modified from DERS (Gratz and Roemer, 2004) will be used to assess emotional regulation. C-DERS is a 36-item self-reported questionnaire to measure the six facets of emotional regulation (i.e., awareness, clarity, impulse, goal, non-acceptance, and strategies). Items are rated on a 5-point Likert scale from 1 (almost never) to 5 (almost always).

  10 minutes each at the Baseline-Assessment and at the Post-Assessment

• Engagement

  Participants' engagement will be an adherence score calculated by addition of the Z scores for overall participant attendance of MBPP/ST sessions and a Z score for overall participant minutes spent on home practice, then divided by the total Z scores. Researchers will record the attendance of each participant in MBPP or ST programs.

  5 minutes at the Post-Assessment

• Executive function: Change in reaction time

  The executive function in terms of reaction time will be assessed by the computerized Stroop Test. The types of trials are the three Chinese color words printed in one of the three types of color. Based on the combination of words and the pixels of the color, there are three types of trials: (1) congruent trials: the stimuli in which the color of the word corresponds to the semantic meaning of the word; (2) incongruent trials: the stimuli in which the paint color of the word is inconsistent with the semantic meaning of the word; and (3) neutral trials: the colored squared.

  30 minutes each at the Baseline-Assessment and at the Post-Assessment

• Executive function: Change in accuracy

  The executive function in terms of accuracy will also be assessed by the computerized Stroop Test. The types of trials are the three Chinese color words printed in one of the three types of color. Based on the combination of words and the pixels of the color, there are three types of trials: (1) congruent trials: the stimuli in which the color of the word corresponds to the semantic meaning of the word; (2) incongruent trials: the stimuli in which the paint color of the word is inconsistent with the semantic meaning of the word; and (3) neutral trials: the colored squared.

  30 minutes each at the Baseline-Assessment and at the Post-Assessment

• Change in attention

  The attention will be measured by event-related potential while Stroop Test.

  30 minutes each at the Baseline-Assessment and at the Post-Assessment

• Change in brain resting state

  The frequency domain of electroencephalography (EEG) will also be recorded during the resting state at baseline and post-intervention.

  8 minutes each at the Baseline-Assessment and at the Post-Assessment

Secondary Outcomes (3)

• General dispositional mindfulness

  5 minutes each at the Baseline-Assessment and at the Post-Assessment

• Athletic dispositional mindfulness

  5 minutes each at the Baseline-Assessment and at the Post-Assessment

• Athletic psychological skills

  5 minutes each at the Baseline-Assessment and at the Post-Assessment

Study Arms (3)

MBPP group

EXPERIMENTAL

The Mindfulness-based Peak Performance (MBPP) program consists of eight 60-min training sessions, once weekly for 8 weeks, which aim to enhance human performance.

Behavioral: MBPP

Self-talk group

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

The self-talk intervention serving as the active control group will be included in the current trial. In line with the MBPP intervention, the self-talk intervention is also designed to enhance athletic performance, and will consist of eight 60-min meaningful sessions, once per week for eight weeks.

Behavioral: Self-talk

Waiting-list control

NO INTERVENTION

The participants in waiting-list control group are advised to maintain their everyday lifestyles and regular training. Once the participants in WC finish the experiment, they will be invited to participate in one of the 8-week interventions (i.e., MBPP or ST) based upon their preference.

Interventions

MBPP BEHAVIORAL

MBPP program consist of three fundamental principles (i.e., attention monitoring, acceptance, sport-specific rationale) and six performance-related core mental attributes including three behavioral and three neurocognitive components. Each session will start with a brief homework discussion and recap of the preceding session, and instructors will deliver a topic-related brief story or group activity to participants, followed by a theoretical introduction and practice of mindfulness. Finally, at the end of each session, instructors will guide participant to discuss mindfulness applications related to specific sports performances. At the end of the session, participants will be assigned homework to increase the effectiveness of MBPP, and participants will be encouraged to practice daily for at least 10-15 min between the sessions.

Also known as: Mindfulness-based intervention

MBPP group

Self-talk BEHAVIORAL

self-talk sessions include: Session 1 \& 2. The concepts, types, and the importance of self-talk will be introduced; Session 3. Researchers, coaches and the athletes will work together to design syntactically recognizable, concise, and clear sport-specific instructional scripts for specific sports performance (e.g., running); Session 4. practice of sport-specific instructional self-talk; Session 5. researchers, coaches and the athletes will work together to design syntactically recognizable, concise, and clear sport-specific motivational self-talk scripts for specific sports performances; Session 6. practice of sport-specific motivational self-talk; and Session 7 \& 8. general practice for learned self-talk techniques.

Self-talk group

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 30 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64)

You may qualify if:

• Aged between 18 and 30 years
• Normal or corrected-to-normal 20/20 vision
• No red-green color blindness
• Able to speak and read Chinese
• Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire (PAR-Q) score = 0
• With one of the designated sport proficiencies (i.e., middle-long running, marathon, triathlon)
• No previous major experience in mindfulness-related training (e.g., meditation or Tai Chi)
• Provide informed consent

You may not qualify if:

• Diagnosed or self-reported cognitive problems
• The diagnosed or self-reported physical disease (e.g., untreated hypertension and chronic heart disease, stroke, brain tumor, musculoskeletal disorders, other exercise contradictions)
• Diagnosed or self-reported major psychiatric illness (e.g., major depression, schizophrenia)
• History of alcohol or drug abuse
• Unwillingness to be randomized to one of the three groups
• Currently participating in another study trial

Sponsors & Collaborators

• National Taiwan Normal University: lead

Study Sites (1)

Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, National Taiwan Normal University

Taipei, 106308, Taiwan

Location

Related Publications (1)

• Chang YK, Gill DL, Creswell JD, Chen DT, Lin CY, Chu CH, Nien JT. Effect of mindfulness-based intervention on endurance performance under pressure and performance-relevant mental attributes, an interdisciplinary perspective: Protocol for a Mindfulness-Based Peak Performance (MBPP) trial. Contemp Clin Trials. 2023 Jun;129:107175. doi: 10.1016/j.cct.2023.107175. Epub 2023 Apr 5.

  PMID: 37028503 DERIVED

Study Officials

• Yu-Kai Chang, Ph.D.

  Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, National Taiwan Normal University

  STUDY DIRECTOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: November 1, 2022
• First Posted: November 10, 2022
• Study Start: September 5, 2023
• Primary Completion: December 31, 2024
• Study Completion: December 31, 2024
• Last Updated: March 17, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-03

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

TW (1)