Mental toughness in higher education: Relationships with achievement and progression in first-year university sports students

Abstract

Research into mental toughness has largely been confined to elite sport but should theoretically be important across other performance domains. We examined mental toughness in 161 first year sport students at a UK University using a self-report questionnaire (MTQ48). A measure of achievement (year grade) and progression (pass, fail, or re-sit) was also obtained for each participant. Significant and positive correlations were found between total mental toughness, grades, and progression. Results suggest that the MTQ48 may be a useful screening device to identify students at risk of failing and dropping out of their program. Interventions that target life control and interpersonal confidence would appear to be most salient

The Development and Validation of a Mental Toughness Scale for Adolescents

“…This aligns with previous research in both adult (e.g. Crust et al, 2014;St Clair-Thompson et al, 2016) and child samples (St ClairThompson et al, 2016).…”

“…Clough, Earle & Sewell, 2002;Fourie & Potgieter, 2001;Golby, Sheard & Van Wersch, 2007;Jones, Hanton & Connaughton, 2002;, the model which has been most commonly used in an education context identifies six attributes: commitment, challenge, control (life and emotion), and confidence (abilities and interpersonal) (Clough et al, 2002). In the context of education, mental toughness attributes have been shown to correlate positively with academic achievement, school attendance, classroom behaviour, and peer relationships in secondary school students (St.Clair-Thompson, Bugler, Robinson, McGeown, Perry & Clough, 2014) and with achievement and progression among undergraduates (Crust, Earle, Perry, Earle, Clough & Clough, 2014). In addition, stronger mental toughness attributes have been associated with more successful educational transitions (St.Clair-Thompson et al, 2016) and in adolescent populations, have been associated with better physical and psychological health (e.g.…”

Evaluation of sport mental toughness and psychological wellbeing in undergraduate student athletes

“…However, other variables such as gender, age and year of study did not predict psychological well-being. Moreover, the findings of this study supported other studies of those which highlighted the value of mental toughness in university education (Crust et al, 2014;Stamp et al, 2015).…”

“…In their study Pritchard et al (2007), informed that optimism and self-esteem in particular are positively related to effective student transitions. On the other side, being committed, having narrow personality traits and the competency to cope with concurrent changes and requests that occur during transitions are important features related to both academic achievement and mental health (Crust et al, 2014).…”

“…Students with a lower mental toughness are likely to be less resistant to the demands of higher education. As others pointed out, mental toughness sports questionnaire could be an important screening tool in identifying "in-dangerous" physical education and sports department students who fail to have the necessary personal resources at university (Crust et al, 2014).…”