Future Anxiety and Psychological Well-Being Among Sport Management Students: The Indirect Role of Mental Toughness and the Joint Moderating Role of Age and Family Economic Status


Turhal S. N., Öz F., Gül O., Şahinler Y., Belli I., Bayansalduz M.

EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY, cilt.0, sa.0, ss.0-1, 2026 (SSCI, Scopus)

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 0 Sayı: 0
  • Basım Tarihi: 2026
  • Dergi Adı: EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Academic Search Ultimate (EBSCO), Social Science Premium Collection (ProQuest), Education Collection (ProQuest), Education Source Ultimate (EBSCO), Health Research Premium Collection (ProQuest), Scopus, Sociology Source Ultimate (EBSCO), Agricultural & Environmental Science Database, Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), IBZ Online, Periodicals Index Online, Education Abstracts, Educational research abstracts (ERA), ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), EBSCO Education Source, Psycinfo
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.0-1
  • İstanbul Gelişim Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

This study examined the association between future anxiety and psychological well-being, the indirect association through mental toughness, and the joint moderating role of age and family economic status in the relationship between future anxiety and mental toughness among sport management students. A cross-sectional correlational design was used with 367 students enrolled in sport management departments at four public universities in Türkiye. Data were collected using the Future Anxiety Scale for University Students, the Mental Toughness Inventory, and the Psychological Well-Being Scale. Pearson correlation, observed-variable path analysis, and three-way interaction analysis were conducted. Future anxiety was negatively associated with psychological well-being (r = -.40, p < .001) and mental toughness (r = -.35, p < .001), whereas mental toughness was positively associated with psychological well-being (r = .75, p < .001). The indirect association between future anxiety and psychological well-being through mental toughness was statistically significant (β = -.240, 95% BCa bootstrap CI [-.336, -.160]), while the direct association remained significant (β = -.165, p < .001), indicating that mental toughness accounted for part of the association. The three-way interaction among future anxiety, age, and family economic status was statistically significant in predicting mental toughness (B = .550, p = .006). Future anxiety was negatively associated with mental toughness across all age and family economic status groups. The largest observed negative slope was found among students aged 22 years or older whose family income was lower than their family expenses (B = -.620, p < .001), whereas the smallest observed negative slope was found among students aged 18–21 years in the same economic group (B = -.180, p = .041). These findings identify mental toughness as an important psychological resource associated with psychological well-being and indicate that age and family economic status jointly condition the strength of the relationship between future anxiety and mental toughness. Given the cross-sectional design, the findings should be interpreted as statistical associations rather than evidence of causal relationships.