Effects of a Mindfulness Programme on Competitive Athletes With Physical Disabilities

Effects of the Mindfulness Sport Performance Enhancement Programme on Competitive Athletes With Physical Disabilities.

Pain affects the athlete's sporting career directly or indirectly. Directly, the injury affects other areas of the body causing a physical decompensation in the athlete and this affects the correct execution of the sporting technique, or how technical gestures can cause pain. Indirectly, through the psychological consequences of pain that generate a series of negative consequences and feelings. Some studies suggest that psychological skills are an important tool for pain management. For that reason, a mindfulness intervention programme would be a useful tool for manage pain in this population.

The study hypothesised that the Mindfulness Sports Performance Enhancement (MSPE) programme adapted for this population, was more effective than mindfulness-based relaxation training as a treatment for chronic pain and associated emotional disturbances in Para athletes with physical disabilities, and that it contributes more to modifying psychological variables that have been shown to be related to or have modulatory value in the experience of chronic pain.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Have a physical disability
• A minimum of 5 points on a Likert-type scale from 1 (no pain) to 10 (worst pain imaginable) at the time of recruitment
• Be at least 15 years of age
• Have been a competitive athlete (regional, national, world and/or Paralympic Games level) in any sport discipline.
• Have an official regional or Spanish Federation of Sports for People with Physical disabilities licence
• Be willing to participate in a mindfulness programme for pain management
• Sign an informed consent form.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Not having at least one of the criteria mentioned as inclusion.