ArticleFrontiers in psychology2025
Fostering self-efficacy in Chinese university athletes: the mediating roles of psychological resilience and emotional regulation and the moderating role of autonomy-supportive coaching.
Article in Frontiers in psychology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
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
4 citing papers in PubMed.
- Mental Toughness and 2K Rowing Performance in Division II Female Collegiate Athletes: A Longitudinal Analysis Using Mixed-Effects Modeling.Sports (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Mindfulness and Psychological Distress in College Student-Athletes: The Mediating Roles of Cognitive Reappraisal and Subjective Vitality.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Energy Availability as a Neurocognitive Regulator of Endurance Performance: Integrating Metabolic, Perceptual, and Decision-Making Mechanisms-A Narrative Review.Sports (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Can coach emotional support motivate college athletes to train disligently? A moderated mediation model.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
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
This study explores how mental toughness contributes to the psychological sustainability of athletes by enhancing emotional regulation and psychological resilience, ultimately fostering self-efficacy, particularly in environments supported by autonomy-supportive coaching. The study examines mental toughness (MT), a dispositional resource for goal-focused persistence under pressure, and its effects on performance self-efficacy (PSE) through the mediating roles of emotional regulation (ER) and psychological resilience (PR), with autonomy-supportive coaching (ASC) as a contextual moderator. University athletes in China face intense dual academic-athletic demands within a collectivist culture that may suppress autonomy and undermine self-efficacy, yet little research addresses how psychological and coaching factors jointly shape their confidence. Using purposive sampling, we recruited 581 active university athletes across China who met the eligibility criteria: (1) currently enrolled as a university student, and (2) actively participating in organized sports for at least one year. Participants completed validated scales measuring the target constructs. We analyzed the data through structural equation modeling (SEM) in Smart PLS. Results reveal that MT positively affects ER and PR, which in turn significantly enhance PSE. Both ER and PR mediate the relationship between MT and PSE, while ASC strengthens the positive effects of MT on ER and PR. Theoretically, the study highlights the role of internal psychological resources and supportive environments in sustaining athlete development over time, offering a framework that bridges sport psychology with broader concepts of personal and developmental sustainability. The study provides practical guidance for coaches aiming to foster mental toughness and psychological skills to improve athletes' confidence and psychological resilience.
Indexed as
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.