A bayesian analysis of mindfulness levels among recreational and licensed athletes
Keywords:
Mindfulness, bayesian analyses, gender, sportsAbstract
This study was conducted to compare the mindfulness levels of recreational and licensed athletes using a Bayesian statistical approach. The study group consisted of 157 student-athletes (65 women, 41.40%; 92 men, 56.60%; Mage = 21.93, SD = 3.82) studying at the Faculty of Sport Sciences of Sivas Cumhuriyet University. Of the participants, 67 (42.67%) were recreational athletes and 90 (57.33%) were licensed athletes; their mean sport age was 6.96 years (SD = 4.49). A personal and sports information form and the Mindfulness Inventory for Sport were used as data collection tools. Data analysis was performed using the R software (4.5.1). Regarding sport level (recreational/licensed), findings moderately supporting the null hypothesis of no difference between recreational and licensed athlete groups were found in the awareness (BF10 = 0.33), non-judgmental (BF10 = 0.34), and refocusing (BF10 = 0.25) dimensions. According to the gender, weak evidence (BF10 = 1.29) supporting the alternative hypothesis of a difference in favor of women was obtained for the awareness dimension. In the non-judgmental (BF10 = 0.22) and refocusing (BF10 = 0.21) dimensions, findings moderately supporting the null hypothesis of no difference between women and men were obtained. In conclusion, no differences were found in mindfulness levels with respect to gender or athletic status (recreational vs. licensed).
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