Abstract
The 16-item Athlete Mindfulness Questionnaire (AMQ) provides a comprehensive sport-specific measure of mindfulness for athletes. The AMQ is a dispositional measure that consists of three dimensions: present-moment attention, awareness, and acceptance. The AMQ was developed in a systematic approach with five related studies across four separated samples. Originally, acceptance items were phrased using negatively worded items but failed to provide convergent and concurrent validities. This might be due to inattention and confusion of athletes when trying to interpret the meaning of items. The AMQ with positively worded items of acceptance provided excellent model fit, acceptable internal consistencies, and well-established convergent and concurrent validities. Overall, the 16-item AMQ is a reliable and valid self-report measure of mindfulness in sports contexts. The AMQ can be used in future studies applying mindfulness training on promoting athletic performance and mental health.
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Appendix
Athlete Mindfulness Questionnaire (AMQ)
The following statements relate to your general experiences in training and competition. Please indicate how much you agree or disagree with each statement based on your true feelings. Remember, there are no right or wrong answers, and just be honest. Please use the following scale to make your choice.
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Never true | Rarely true | Sometimes true | Often true | Always true | |||
1. I can maintain my attention on my training | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||
2. During training and competition, I can put up with unpleasant thoughts and feelings | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||
3. I am aware that my emotions during training and competition can influence my thinking and behavior | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||
4. When something unexpected happens during training or competition, I am aware of my emotional state | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||
5. When I find myself distracted, I gently bring my attention back to my training | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||
6. When something happens during training and competition doesn’t go well, I am aware of my inner frustration and restlessness | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||
7. During training and competition, it doesn’t matter if the situation is good or bad, I can accept myself for who I am | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||
8. During training and competition, I can let go of the emotions brought about by negative life events | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||
9. I can easily sustain my attention on the competition | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||
10. When I feel muscular pain during training, I can still maintain attention on things I should do | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||
11. When the situation changes during the competition, I am aware of the thoughts and ideas that flashed across my mind | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||
12. When the competition process is totally beyond my expectations, I am aware of my physical reactions and changes | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||
13. During training and competition, it doesn’t matter if my thoughts and feelings are comfortable or not, I put up with all of them | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||
14. If I notice that my mind is wandering, I can quickly get back to focusing on my training or competition | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||
15. During training or competition, I can be immediately aware of my emotional changes | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||
16. Even though some thoughts and feelings during training and competition may be unpleasant or miserable, I can get along with them peacefully | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
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Zhang, CQ. (2023). Athlete Mindfulness Questionnaire (AMQ). In: Medvedev, O.N., Krägeloh, C.U., Siegert, R.J., Singh, N.N. (eds) Handbook of Assessment in Mindfulness Research. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-77644-2_55-1
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