Open Access

ARTICLE

Mindfulness and Mental Health of College Athletes: The Role of Stress Coping and Burnout

Junhe Cui¹, Kyungsik Kim^1,*, Sihong Sui^1,*, Zixiang Zhou², Gong Cheng¹

1 Department of Sport & Leisure Studies, Hoseo University, Asan-si, 31499, Republic of Korea
2 School of Physical Education, Hunan University of Science and Technology, Taoyuan Road, Xiangtan, 411201, China

* Corresponding Authors: Kyungsik Kim. Email: ; Sihong Sui. Email:

(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Enhancing Mental Health through Physical Activity: Exploring Resilience Across Populations and Life Stages)

International Journal of Mental Health Promotion 2025, 27(10), 1553-1575. https://doi.org/10.32604/ijmhp.2025.068523

Received 30 May 2025; Accepted 22 August 2025; Issue published 31 October 2025

Abstract

Background: Psychological stress from academic and athletic demands adversely affects college athletes’ mental health, the underlying mechanisms of this relationship remain insufficiently understood. Therefore, this study focuses on the Chinese college athletes and explores the relationship among mindfulness, stress coping, burnout, and mental health. Methods: The study used a sample of 500 student athletes from five higher sports colleges in China, collected data on various variables using standardized psychometric instruments, and analyzed the path relationships and mediating effects among the variables using structural equation modeling (SEM) and bootstrap methods. Results: Mindfulness significantly improved stress coping ability (β = 0.721, p < 0.001), and stress coping significantly improved mental health (β = 0.606, p = 0.027) and reduced burnout levels (β = −0.225, p < 0.001). Burnout had a significant negative impact on mental health (β = −0.113, p = 0.015). Mediation effect analysis revealed that stress coping played a mediating role between mindfulness and mental health (β = 0.797, p < 0.001), while the mediating effect of burnout was not statistically significant. When stress coping and burnout were considered simultaneously, they mediated the relationship between mindfulness and mental health (β = 0.033, 95% CI: [0.004, 0.104], p = 0.026). Conclusions: Mindfulness indirectly affects the mental health of college athletes by enhancing stress coping ability. The findings highlight the importance of integrating mindfulness training and stress coping strategies in sports training. Future studies should consider differences among sports to clarify the relationships between mindfulness, stress coping, burnout, and mental health.

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Keywords

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