Effect of Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) in Increasing Pain Tolerance and Improving the Mental Health of Injured Athletes

Abstract

Literature indicates that injured athletes face both physical and psychological distress after they have been injured. In this study, a Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) was utilised as an intervention for use during the period of recovery with injured athletes and, to the best of our knowledge, this is the first study using MBSR as an intervention for this purpose.Objective: The aim of this research was to investigate the role of MBSR practise in reducing the perception of pain and decreasing anxiety/stress, as well as increasing pain tolerance and mindfulness. An additional aim was to increase positive mood and decrease negative mood in injured athletes.Methods: The participants comprised of twenty athletes (male = 14; female = 6; age range = 21–36 years) who had severe injuries, preventing their participation in sport for more than 3 months. Prior to their injury, the participants had trained regularly with their University teams and participated in official university championships. Both groups followed their normal physiotherapy treatment, but in addition, the intervention group practised mindfulness meditation for 8 weeks (one 90-min session/week). A Cold Pressor Test (CPT) was used to assess pain tolerance. In contrast, the perception of pain was measured using a Visual Analogue Scale. Other measurements used were the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS), Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS), and Profile of Mood States (POMS).Results: Our results demonstrated an increase in pain tolerance for the intervention group and an increase in mindful awareness for injured athletes. Moreover, our findings observed a promising change in positive mood for both groups. Regarding the Stress/Anxiety scores, our findings showed a notable decrease across sessions; however, no significant changes were observed in other main and interaction effects in both groups.Conclusion: Injured athletes can benefit from using mindfulness as part of the sport rehabilitation process to increase their pain tolerance and awareness. Further research is required to assess whether increasing pain tolerance could help in the therapeutic process.

Emotional Reactions and Adaptation to COVID-19 Lockdown (or Confinement) by Spanish Competitive Athletes: Some Lesson for the Future

“…Regarding access to information or psychological support, Kenttä et al ( 2006 ) found that athletes who obtain continuous feedback about their emotional states during the period of recovery from injury manage to reduce their negative mood states. Mohammed et al ( 2018 ). revealed that during an injury, athletes treated with mindfulness-based techniques reduced their negative moods and were more likely to improve in their injury without suffering from psychological stress.…”

Perceptions of Injured Athletes after Eight Weeks of Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Program

“…The participants who were involved in this study were "injured athletes", who had received 8 weeks of the MBSR program [29] . Six injured athletes from the ten participants were accepted to be interviewed after they had received the MBSR program.…”

“…The authors would like to thank all (injured athletes) who were involved in this study, as well as in the study in which they practised the MBSR program (Mohammed et al 2018). In addition, special thanks are given to the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Kurdistan Region, Iraq.…”

Effect of mindfulness on physical activity in primary healthcare patients: a randomised controlled trial pilot study

“…This might explain why self-reported mindfulness seems to mediate the relationship between intrinsic motivation and the physical activity level [ 21 ]. In addition, mindfulness has been shown to increase pain tolerance [ 22 , 23 ]. In other words, practising mindfulness can make it easier to experience satisfaction and mitigate discomfort connected with physical activity and, in this way, support the change from a physically inactive to a physically active behaviour.…”