Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT), Irrational and Rational Beliefs, and the Mental Health of Athletes

Abstract

In this article Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) is proposed as a potentially important framework for the understanding and promotion of mental health in athletes. Cognitive-behavioral approaches predominate in the provision of sport psychology, and often form the backbone of psychological skills training for performance enhancement and maintenance. But far from being solely performance-focused, the cognitive-behavioral approach to sport psychology can restore, promote, and maintain mental health. This review article presents REBT (Ellis, 1957), the original cognitive behavioral therapy, as a valuable approach to addressing mental health issues in sport. REBT holds that it is not events that directly cause emotions and behaviors. Rather, it is one’s beliefs about the events that lead to emotional and behavioral reactivity. Further, REBT distinguishes between rational and irrational beliefs, and suggests that in response to failure, maltreatment, and misfortune, people can react with either healthy or unhealthy emotional and behavioral responses. The extant research indicates that irrational beliefs lead to unhealthy negative emotions, a range of pathological conditions, and a host of maladaptive behaviors that undermine mental health. Therefore, REBT proposes a process for the reduction of irrational beliefs and the promotion of rational beliefs. The use of REBT in sport is seldom reported in literature, but research is growing. This review article proposes three important areas of investigation that will aid the understanding of irrational beliefs and the application of REBT within sport. These areas are: (1) the influence of irrational beliefs and REBT on the mental health of athletes, (2) the influence of irrational beliefs and REBT on athletic performance, (3) the origins and development of irrational beliefs in athletes. Each area is discussed in turn, offering a critical and progressive review of the literature as well as highlighting research deficits, and recommendations to address each of the three areas of investigation.

A longitudinal investigation of irrational beliefs, hedonic balance and academic achievement

“…In line with the notion that irrational beliefs should lead to unconstructive behaviours (Ellis, 1957), researchers have explored whether irrational beliefs are harmful to performance across a variety of settings (for a review, see Turner, 2016). Surprisingly, we were unable to identify any research that had explored associations between irrational beliefs and academic performance.…”

“…Moreover, the extant research has not sufficiently examined the relationships between irrational beliefs and academic performance. It has been suggested that some level of irrational thinking could be helpful to performance in some acute circumstances (Turner, 2016;Turner & Barker, 2014). Irrational beliefs could suggest to the individual that more effort is required (to avoid failure) leading to some adaptive behaviours (e.g., increased study time).…”

Confirmatory factor analysis of the irrational Performance Beliefs Inventory (iPBI) in a sample of amateur and semi-professional athletes

“…In sport settings, irrational beliefs have been identified as important for the experience of anxiety (Turner & Barker, 2013), self-acceptance (Cunningham & Turner, 2016), burnout (Turner & Moore, 2016), resilience (Deen, Turner, & Wong, 2017), psychological distress (Turner, Carrington, & Miller, 2017), and task performance (Wood, Turner, Barker, & Higgins, 2017). Research in nonsport settings also reveals that irrational beliefs are associated with an array of emotional and behavioural malfunctioning (Visla, Fluckiger, Holtforth, & David, 2016) that could also afflict athletes (Turner, 2016). To advance research on irrational beliefs in athletic settings, it is important for researchers to develop valid and reliable measures.…”

Investigating the effects of irrational and rational self-statements on motor-skill and hazard-perception performance.

“…and pragmatically) offers a pro-active approach that facilitates psychological health and goal 130 achievement (Turner, 2016). Furthermore, the use of REBT has been reported across various 131 performance settings such as, sport (e.g., Turner & Barker, 2014), education, and business…”