Abstract:

The aim of this study is to examine the mental training levels of the athletes and their perceptions of challenge and threat in sports. The participant group consisted of 252 male and 174 female athletes studying at sport sciences in the Southeastern Anatolia region. The personal information form, the Mental Training Inventory in Sports and the Challenge and Threat Scale in Sports were applied. Due to the normal distribution of the data, t-test was used to compare two groups, one-way ANOVA test to compare more than two groups, Tukey multiple comparison test, and Pearson Correlation analysis to determine the relationships between variables. Simple linear regression analysis was used to determine the effect between variables. A significant difference was found in favor of men in the mental performance skills and threat sub-dimension in terms of gender, in favor of professional athletes in the sub-dimension of self-talk in terms of the level of sports, in favor of those who do sports for 10 years or more in the sub-dimensions of mental performance skills and threat according to the sports age variable. A moderately positive relationship was found between mental training levels and the challenge sub-dimension, and a low-level negative relationship was found between the threat sub-dimension. As a result of the regression analysis, it was determined that mental training in sports significantly affects the perception of challenge and threat. As a result, mental training levels of athletes can affect the perception of challenge and threat in sports.

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