Imagery use and psychological resilience: sport confidence as a mediator in student athletes

Abstract Objectives An athlete’s ability to buffer against negative effects of stressors has been attributed to their level of psychological resilience. Protective factors, specifically confidence, influences the development of resilience qualities. Moreover, utilizing mental skills (i.e., imagery) is beneficial for developing confidence and increasing levels of resilience-related outcomes. With confidence relevant in both resilience and imagery concepts, the purpose of the proposed study is to investigate relationships between imagery and psychological resilience in athletes and determine if this relationship is mediated by sport confidence. Methods A sample of 243 student athletes (M age = 21.27) competing at the varsity or club level completed questionnaires measuring psychological resilience, imagery use, and sport confidence. Results Results from bivariate correlations indicated that psychological resilience is related to all functions of imagery, save motivational specific, with the strongest relationship occurring between resilience and motivational general-mastery imagery. A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was run on the Sport Imagery Questionnaire and Sport Confidence Inventory measurement models to ensure adequate model fit. As the CFA informed the revised measurement models for the Structural Equation Model (SEM), results indicated that sport confidence did not mediate the relationship between imagery and psychological resilience, as no indirect or total effects were significant. Conclusions Researchers should look to further examine the relationships between imagery and psychological resilience and consider other variables, such as coping and challenge appraisal, that could impact the strength of that relationship.