Mental toughness refers to a collection of psychological characteristic which are central to optimal performance. Athletes, coaches, and sport psychologists have consistently implicated mental toughness as one of the most important psychological characteristics related to success in sports. Over the last few decades, numerous studies have been conducted to examine the role of mental toughness in sporting success. However, its conceptualization and measurement are without consensus. The purpose of this study is to systematically review some of the emerging definitions and conceptualizations, and examine how mental toughness could be nurtured. This review considers both qualitative and quantitative approaches to the study of mental toughness with the specific focus on the models and the development of the measurement of this construct. Although these discussions center on the general aspects of mental toughness, we believe many of the issues have relevance to scholars and practitioners who are interested in the measurement of psychological variables as they pertain to sport, exercise, and other performance or achievement contexts.

This study was designed to compare the effects of two different relaxation techniques, namely progressive muscle relaxation (PMR) and autogenic relaxation (AGR) on moods of young soccer players. sixteen adolescent athletes (mean age: 14.1 ± 1.3) received either PMR or AGR training. Using Profile of Mood States- Adolescents, their mood states were measured one week before relaxation training, before the first relaxation session, and after the twelfth relaxation session. Mixed ANOVA revealed no significant interaction effects and no significant main effects in any of the subscales. However, significant main effects for testing sessions were found for confusion, depression, fatigue, and tension subscales. Post hoc tests revealed post-intervention reductions in the confusion, depression, fatigue, and tension subscale scores. These two relaxation techniques induce equivalent mood responses and may be used to regulate young soccer players' mood states.

This study investigated the effects of combined aerobic and heavy resistance training on the variables of body composition, muscle hypertrophy, and exercise satisfaction in physically active adults in comparison with heavy resistance training only (predominantly designed for hypertrophy). Twenty-two healthy male adults between the ages of 18 and 35, who had limited previous experience with muscle resistance training, participated in the intervention program while maintaining their physical activity level. The participants were randomly allocated into two groups: the resistance training group (control group) and the combined training group (experimental group), which involved both resistance training and aerobic training. Aerobic training consisted of 30 min aerobic interval training sessions three times a week with a total of 8 min work bouts in each at 60–70% of heart rate reserve (HRR). The intervention training program lasted for eight weeks. Resistance training consisted of a 3-day muscle group split (2–3 exercises per muscle group, 8 sets per muscle group, 6–12 repetition maximum (RM). Upon completion, body composition, muscle hypertrophy, and exercise satisfaction were analyzed using the mixed-design ANOVA. Variables selected for this study as markers of body composition responded differently to the different interventions and time; however, some trends were not statistically significant. Overall, it is not possible to state unequivocally that one training modality was superior to another in the body composition cluster, for significant improvements were observed within the groups from pre- to post-interventions, but no significant differences were observed between the resistance training and combined training groups, while, both interventions showed improvement with time in some variables of muscle hypertrophy. Compared to baseline, the exercise satisfaction post-intervention improved within the groups. From pre- to post-testing, both resistance and combined training groups improved exercise satisfaction (p < 0.05 in both groups). However, there was no significant difference in exercise satisfaction observed between the resistance training and combined training groups after the training intervention (p > 0.05).

Purpose: This study compared the effects of 6 and 12 sessions of relaxation training on emotional distress, short-term memory, and sustained attention in primary school children. Methods: Participants (N = 132) aged 10 and 11 years old participated in this study. All participants and their parents provided written informed consent. Participants completed the measurement instruments before and after the completion of relaxation training. Results: Nearly half (49%) of all respondents reported moderate to extremely severe stress, and 80 and 61% reported moderate to extremely severe anxiety and depression, respectively. The results of a one-way analysis of variance revealed a significant difference among the groups in mean changes in short-term memory. A greater memory increase was observed in the 12-session than in the six-session and no-training group. Conclusion: It can be conceived that 12-session of training should be considered when prescribing relaxation regimens as a nonspecific clinical treatment (i.e. for healthy students).

The present study investigated the psychometric properties of a Malaysian adapted Brunel Mood Scale.The questionnaire was administered to 355 young sport athletes with a mean age of 14.69+1.70 years. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and Cronbach's alpha were used to determine the factorial validity and the internal consistency of the questionnaire respectively.CFA results revealed adequate model fit, best represented by a 6-factor model with one of the items removed (item 24). Internal consistency of the questionnaire was marginally supported through alpha reliability method. Alpha coefficients of 0.72, 0.64, 0.73, 0.69, 0.65, and 0.58 were obtained for tension, depression, anger, vigour, fatigue and confusion subscales respectively. Closer inspection of items for confusion revealed a problematic item (item 24/uncertain). Removing this item increased the alpha coefficient to 0.67 for this subscale.It was concluded that this questionnaire may be used to measure differentiated negative and positive mood states among Malaysian adolescent athletes. However, further analyses involving independent samples are needed to confirm the present findings.