Beliefs about emotions, emotion regulation, and mental health outcomes in athletes

Emotion regulation is a crucial ability for athletes, given it can influence mental health. Research suggests individuals' beliefs about emotions - specifically their perceived goodness and controllability - may shape use of emotion regulation strategies, subsequently, impacting their mental health outcomes. However, little is known about whether this is the case among athletes, where the prevalence of poor mental health is concerning. Aiming to address this gap, the hypothesised model tested beliefs about emotions predicting emotion regulation strategy tendencies (cognitive reappraisal, expressive suppression, and distraction), which in turn predicted mental health outcomes (depressive symptoms and vitality). An alternate model tested emotion regulation strategy tendencies predicting beliefs about emotions which in turn predicted mental health outcomes. 416 UK athletes (18 to 25 years; Mage = 19.44, SD = 1.32) representing a range of sports completed questionnaires measuring beliefs about emotions (goodness and controllability), emotion regulation strategy tendencies, and mental health outcomes. After assessing model fit indices, a direct relationship between beliefs about emotions and mental health outcomes was added demonstrating an improved model fit (X² (1) = .889, p = .346, SRMR = .008, CFI = 1.000, TLI = 1.004, RMSEA <.001 (90% CI < .001 to .128)) and indicated that beliefs emotions were controllable and good predicted lower depressive symptoms and greater vitality directly, and indirectly through expressive suppression and cognitive reappraisal (p's < .05). The alternate model showed similar fit (X² (1) = .576, p = .448, SRMR = .009, CFI = 1.000, TLI = 1.016, RMSEA <.001 (90% CI < .001 to .119)), and indicated that cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression predicted mental health directly, and indirectly through goodness and controllability beliefs (p's < .05). These findings highlight the importance of the relationship between athletes' beliefs about emotions and emotion regulation and their mental health outcomes.