Psychological Skills Training and Athletic Performance: A Quasi-Experimental Investigation among University Athletes in Pakistan
Abstract
Background: Although Psychological Skills Training (PST) has demonstrated robust efficacy in Western athletic contexts, its systematic investigation in Pakistani university sport remains limited, despite the sector's strategic importance within the national athlete development pathway.
Objective: This study examined the effectiveness of a structured eight-week PST intervention on athletic performance, competitive anxiety, and self-confidence among university athletes across Pakistan.
Methods: A sequential explanatory mixed-methods design was employed. In the quantitative phase, a quasi-experimental pretest–posttest design was used with an experimental group (n = 210) and a matched control group (n = 210) drawn from eight universities across all four provinces of Pakistan. Athletes represented ten sports disciplines. Validated instruments the Athletic Coping Skills Inventory-28 (ACSI-28), Ottawa Mental Skills Assessment Tool-3 (OMSAT-3), and Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2R (CSAI-2R) assessed psychological outcomes alongside standardized sport-specific performance metrics. The PST intervention comprised eight weekly two-hour group sessions covering progressive relaxation, PETTLEP-informed imagery, cognitive restructuring, self-talk, attention control, and goal setting, delivered in Urdu. A qualitative phase involved semi-structured interviews with 30 athletes and 15 coaches.
Results: All five primary hypotheses were supported. The experimental group demonstrated significantly greater improvements in PST skill levels (d = 1.44), sport-specific performance (d = 1.01), cognitive anxiety reduction (d = 1.23), somatic anxiety reduction (d = 1.06), and self-confidence (d = 1.29) compared to controls (all p < .001). Mean sport-specific performance improved by 18.4% (SD = 4.2%) in the experimental group versus 2.1% (SD = 1.8%) in controls. Sport type significantly moderated PST effectiveness, with individual sport athletes demonstrating greater gains (d = 1.61) than team sport athletes (d = 1.28).
Conclusion: A culturally adapted, Urdu-delivered PST program produced large, practically meaningful improvements across all measured outcomes. The study introduces the Pakistan University Athletic Psychological Skills (PUAPS) Framework as a culturally informed model for PST implementation in South Asian Muslim-majority sporting contexts.
Keywords: Psychological Skills Training; Athletic Performance; University Athletes; Pakistan; Mental Imagery; Competitive Anxiety; Cultural Adaptation; Sport Psychology
