Psychological Predictors of Pain and Pain-related Outcomes in Athletes

This thesis examined the relationship between mental toughness, specific resources of mental toughness (i.e., optimism, resilience, pain-specific self-efficacy, and attentional control), and pain through a literature review and four studies. The literature review suggested that a relationship between mental toughness and pain existed; however, the number of studies directly assessing the relationship was limited and there was an absence of empirical pain measures within these studies. The initial multi-study design found no significant associations between the predictive model (i.e., mental toughness, optimism, resilience, pain-specific self-efficacy, attentional control) and the pain experience of undergraduate students in a cold-pressor task (Study 1), or delayed onset muscle soreness pain in athletes (Study 2). It was concluded that the observed findings may be due to the intensity and meaningfulness of the pain, leading to recommendations of continuing the research in a more naturalistic environment. Study 3 examined the relationship between the predictive model with 2 km rowing ergometer test personal best performance and pain experience (recalled and predicted) in rowers. Mental toughness was found to be significantly associated with all measures of pain experience but not performance. The findings of Study 3 were used to refine the experimental model in Study 4, where the predictive model was assessed against the performance and pain experience of rowers during an in-person 2 km rowing ergometer test. Pain-specific self-efficacy and mental toughness were observed to be significantly associated with performance, and pain-specific self-efficacy was found to be significantly associated with pain intensity. The thesis concludes with a summary of the key findings, discussion of strengths and limitations, recommendations for future research, and practical implications.<p></p>

Author dc:creator

• Oliver Whitton (21063350)

• Mental toughness
• Pain
• Athletes
• Sport

Statement dc:rights

• All rights reserved
• Open Access after 2027-09-30

Identifier

10779/exe.32076678.v1

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:figshare.com:article/32076678