{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,14]],"date-time":"2026-08-14T13:33:21Z","timestamp":1786714401385,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":40,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,14]],"date-time":"2026-08-14T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1786665600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Psychol."],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Climbing is a sport that demands high levels of both physical and mental effort, and athletes may encounter significant stress during performance. Mental toughness refers to an athlete\u2019s capacity to cope with stress and maintain performance under challenging conditions. Mindfulness is the conscious awareness and experiential engagement with the present moment. This study aimed to examine the relationship between mental toughness and stress levels in climbers, and to investigate the moderating role of mindfulness in this relationship.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>The study included 150 active climbers (90 males, 60 females; mean age\u202f=\u202f25.4\u202f\u00b1\u202f4.7\u202fyears). Mental toughness was assessed using the Sports Mental Toughness Questionnaire (SMTQ) and the Mental Toughness Inventory (MTI), stress levels were measured via the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10), and mindfulness was evaluated using the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS). Multiple regression and moderation analyses were conducted using SPSS and the PROCESS macro, with 5,000 bootstrap samples and 95% confidence intervals.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      Correlation analyses indicated significant negative relationships between SMTQ and MTI scores and PSS-10 scores, as well as between MAAS scores and PSS-10 scores (\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u202f&amp;lt;\u202f0.001). Multiple regression analyses revealed that SMTQ (\n                      <jats:italic>\u03b2<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u202f=\u202f\u22120.33), MTI (\n                      <jats:italic>\u03b2<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u202f=\u202f\u22120.38), and MAAS (\n                      <jats:italic>\u03b2<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u202f=\u202f\u22120.29) significantly and negatively predicted stress levels (\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u202f&amp;lt;\u202f0.001). Moderation analysis showed that higher levels of mindfulness strengthened the negative effect of mental toughness on stress (Interaction\n                      <jats:italic>\u03b2<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u202f=\u202f\u22120.18,\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u202f=\u202f0.002).\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>These findings indicate that both mental toughness and mindfulness play a crucial role in stress management among climbers. In particular, mindfulness enhances the stress-reducing effects of mental toughness. The results provide practical implications for sport psychology interventions and climbing training programs.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2026.1799925","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,14]],"date-time":"2026-08-14T12:52:05Z","timestamp":1786711925000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["The relationship between mental toughness, stress, and mindfulness in climbers"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Hulusi","family":"Alp","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Recreation, Faculty of Sport Sciences, Suleyman Demirel Universitesi","place":["Isparta, T\u00fcrkiye"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Reha","family":"Bozg\u00fcney","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Recreation, Faculty of Sport Sciences, Suleyman Demirel Universitesi","place":["Isparta, T\u00fcrkiye"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"\u0130brahim Kubilay","family":"T\u00fcrkay","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Recreation, Faculty of Sport Sciences, Suleyman Demirel Universitesi","place":["Isparta, T\u00fcrkiye"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"G\u00f6rkem","family":"Tura\u00e7","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Recreation, Faculty of Sport Sciences, Istanbul Galata Universitesi","place":["Beyo\u011flu, T\u00fcrkiye"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Zeynep Senem S\u00f6yleyici","family":"\u00d6cal","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Recreation, Faculty of Sport Sciences, Suleyman Demirel Universitesi","place":["Isparta, T\u00fcrkiye"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Didem","family":"Yazar","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Recreation, Faculty of Sport Sciences, Suleyman Demirel Universitesi","place":["Isparta, T\u00fcrkiye"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ey\u00fcp","family":"Temur","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Recreation, Faculty of Sport Sciences, Selcuk Universitesi","place":["Konya, T\u00fcrkiye"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Banu","family":"Can","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Sport Management, Faculty of Sport Sciences, Ardahan Universitesi","place":["Ardahan, T\u00fcrkiye"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,14]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"285","DOI":"10.1123\/jcsp.2014-0013","article-title":"Mindfulness meditation training for sport (MMTS) intervention: impact with intercollegiate athletes","volume":"8","author":"Baltzell","year":"2014","journal-title":"J. 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