ReviewJournal of exercise science and fitness2025
Impact of mindfulness-based interventions on sports performance and mental health: An umbrella review.
Review in Journal of exercise science and fitness, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Comparative effects of different sport psychology interventions on anxiety in competitive athletes: a Bayesian network meta-analysis.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Pooled it
- Psychological skills and mindfulness for distance runners: a systematic review of performance, psychological outcomes, and implications for coaching practice.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Pooled it
- The Effectiveness of Mindfulness-Based Interventions in Enhancing Psychological Well-Being in Athletes: A Scoping Review of Randomised Controlled Trials.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Effects of Mindfulness-Acceptance-Insight-Commitment (MAIC) Training on Stress and Sleep Quality in Elite Swimmers: A Randomized Controlled Mixed-Methods Trial.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- The Mediating Role of Rumination in the Relationship Between Mindful Awareness and Athlete Burnout.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- From Slump to Comeback: Psychological Determinants of Performance Decline, Burnout, and Recovery in Competitive Athletes-A Systematic Review.Sports (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- What we get wrong about stress in sports psychology: an opinion.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Enhancing psychological performance and basketball skills: a comparative study of elite athletes and college recreational players after an 8-week mindfulness intervention.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background/Objective: While Mindfulness-Based Interventions (MBIs) are increasingly explored for enhancing sports performance and mental health in athletes, existing systematic reviews present conflicting results regarding their efficacy due to methodological inconsistencies and varied athlete populations. To address these discrepancies, this umbrella review critically evaluates evidence from systematic reviews to determine the aggregate effects of MBIs on sports performance, mindfulness indicators, and mental health outcomes among athletes. Methods: Systematic searches of PubMed, Web of Science, PsycINFO, ScienceDirect, and Scopus were conducted from inception to January 2024. Included studies were systematic reviews examining MBIs for athletic populations and reporting on sports performance, mindfulness indicators, or mental health outcomes. Methodological quality of included reviews was appraised using AMSTAR-2. Results: Fifteen systematic reviews and meta-analyses, encompassing 10,503 athletes, met inclusion criteria. Most reviews indicated positive trends for MBIs in improving sports performance, mindfulness indicators and various mental health outcomes. However, substantial methodological heterogeneity in primary study designs and MBIs protocols across reviews limited definitive conclusions. Critically, AMSTAR-2 assessments revealed that the majority (11 of 15, 73 %) of included reviews were of critically low methodological quality, with the remainder rated as low quality. Conclusion: While MBIs show potential to foster improved sports performance and mental health in athletes, the current evidence base is considerably weakened by the poor methodological quality of existing systematic reviews. A pressing need exists for future research to employ more rigorous methodologies, standardised intervention protocols, and consistent outcome reporting to establish a robust evidence base for the application of MBIs in sports.
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Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.