The Impact of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) on the Clinical Symptoms of Anxiety in the Athletes of a Military Unit

Sport is known as a basic international industry around the world. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy on the clinical symptoms of anxiety in the male athletes of a military unit.

This is a semi-experimental study with pretest-posttest and control group, in which the impact of mindfulness -based cognitive therapy on the reduction of the clinical symptoms of anxiety in the 20 to 35-year-old athletes of a military unit was evaluated. In this study, the purposive convenience sampling method was used. From among all the male athletes in a military unit that met the entry criteria, 32 were selected with a score of 12 to 26 in the Beck Anxiety Questionnaire and randomly assigned to two intervention and control groups each including16 athletes. The subjects in the experimental group participated in eight 2-hour sessions of group therapy on a weekly basis, but the control group members did not receive any treatment. After the treatment, the post-test was administered to both groups.

The results of the analysis of covariance indicate that mindfulness-based cognitive therapy affects the clinical symptoms of anxiety.

Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy training can reduce clinical symptoms of anxiety in military athletes.