The effect of attention on wellbeing in combat sport athletes: the mediating role of competitive anxiety
Frontiers in Psychology, cilt.17, 2026 (SSCI, Scopus)
- Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
- Cilt numarası: 17
- Basım Tarihi: 2026
- Doi Numarası: 10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1870752
- Dergi Adı: Frontiers in Psychology
- Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus, IBZ Online, Linguistic Bibliography, MLA - Modern Language Association Database, Psycinfo, Directory of Open Access Journals, MLA International Bibliography
- Anahtar Kelimeler: attentional control, emotion regulation, mediation model, performance psychology, psychological regulation
- Açık Arşiv Koleksiyonu: AVESİS Açık Erişim Koleksiyonu
- İstanbul Gelişim Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet
Özet
Introduction – This study aimed to examine whether the effect of attentional processes on psychological well-being in combat sport athletes operates directly or indirectly through competitive anxiety within an integrated model. Methods – A total of 418 actively competing athletes participated in the study, and the relationships among athlete attention, competitive anxiety, and psychological well-being were analyzed using a regression-based mediation model. Results – The findings revealed that athlete attention had a strong and positive effect on psychological well-being (β = 0.718), while also showing a significant negative effect on competitive anxiety (β = 0.574). In turn, competitive anxiety was found to negatively predict psychological well-being (β = −0.242). When competitive anxiety was included in the model, the direct effect of attention on psychological well-being decreased (β = 0.579), indicating the presence of a mediation structure. Bootstrap analysis further confirmed that the indirect effect was statistically significant (β = 0.139, 95% CI [0.091, 0.202]), demonstrating that competitive anxiety plays a partial mediating role in this relationship. Discussion – These results suggest that attentional processes are associated with psychological well-being both directly and indirectly through their statistical association with competitive anxiety. From a theoretical perspective, the findings support the assumptions of Attentional Control Theory within a sport context and highlight the role of attention as a multidimensional regulatory mechanism. Practically, the findings suggest that interventions targeting both attentional control and anxiety regulation may be associated with more favorable psychological well-being outcomes than approaches focusing solely on performance-related outcomes.