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Mindfulness witnessed a substantial popularity surge in the past decade, especially as digitally self-administered interventions became available at relatively low costs. Yet, it is uncertain whether they effectively help reduce stress. In a preregistered (OSF https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/UF4JZ ; retrospective registration at ClinicalTrials.gov NCT06308744 ) multi-site study (nsites = 37, nparticipants = 2,239, 70.4% women, Mage = 22.4, s.d.age = 10.1, all fluent English speakers), we experimentally tested whether four single, standalone mindfulness exercises effectively reduced stress, using Bayesian mixed-effects models. All exercises proved to be more efficacious than the active control. We observed a mean difference of 0.27 (d = -0.56; 95% confidence interval, -0.43 to -0.69) between the control condition (M = 1.95, s.d. = 0.50) and the condition with the largest stress reduction (body scan: M = 1.68, s.d. = 0.46). Our findings suggest that mindfulness may be beneficial for reducing self-reported short-term stress for English speakers from higher-income countries.

College and university coaches face a variety of pressures and demands that make them vulnerable to burnout. The purpose of this research was to examine how negative social exchanges, psychological flexibility, and psychological inflexibility are related to burnout (emotional exhaustion) in coaches. A sample of 592 college and university coaches (nmale = 377, nfemale = 214) completed an online survey measuring perceived negative social exchanges, psychological flexibility, psychological inflexibility, and emotional exhaustion. Results indicated that negative social exchanges, psychological flexibility, and psychological inflexibility were associated with emotional exhaustion. Female coaches reported more negative social exchanges, less psychological flexibility, more psychological inflexibility, and more emotional exhaustion than male coaches. Full-time coaches reported being less psychologically flexible, more psychologically inflexible, having more negative social exchanges, and feeling more emotionally exhausted than part-time and volunteer coaches. There results highlight key factors related to burnout in college and university coaches and suggest future research directions that may help mitigate burnout in coaching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Self-determination theory suggests that coaching style (e.g., controlling, autonomy supportive) contributes to athletes' motivation. Limited attention has been paid to how season outcome (winning and losing seasons) affects athletes' perceptions of controlling, neutral coaches, and autonomy supportive coaches. In this study, 149 NCAA Division II and III swimmers read vignettes of controlling, neutral, or autonomy supportive coaches who had either a winning season or a losing season. Coaches with a controlling coaching style were perceived less favorably than neutral and autonomy supportive coaches. Coaches who had successful seasons were perceived more favorably and as being more autonomy supportive than coaches who had unsuccessful seasons. The results suggest that season outcome is a factor that contributes to athletes' perceptions of coaches and coaching style, regardless of actual coaching behaviors. The findings have implications for coaching research, education, and training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]