Effects of Personalized Mental Imagery Training on Anger Expression and Resilience in Adolescent Rugby Players: A Controlled Study

TL;DR

Personalized mental imagery training helps adolescent rugby players manage anger and build resilience more effectively than education-based methods.

Contribution

This study demonstrates that mental imagery training can reduce maladaptive anger and improve resilience in youth athletes.

Findings

Personalized mental imagery training improved imagery ability and resilience in adolescent rugby players.

The intervention reduced maladaptive anger expression compared to an educational control group.

Resilience mediated the relationship between mental imagery and anger expression.

Abstract

What are the main findings?
Personalized mental imagery training significantly improved imagery ability and resilience in adolescent rugby players.The intervention led to a meaningful reduction in maladaptive anger expression compared with an educational control condition.

Personalized mental imagery training significantly improved imagery ability and resilience in adolescent rugby players.

The intervention led to a meaningful reduction in maladaptive anger expression compared with an educational control condition.

What is the implication of the main finding?
Mental imagery represents a feasible and low-cost strategy to support emotional regulation in high-contact youth sports.Strengthening resilience may be a key psychological mechanism through which imagery-based interventions reduce maladaptive anger responses.

Mental imagery represents a feasible and low-cost strategy to support emotional regulation in high-contact youth sports.

Strengthening resilience may be a key psychological mechanism through which imagery-based interventions reduce maladaptive anger responses.

Background: Adolescence is a critical developmental period marked by heightened emotional reactivity and increased exposure to stress, particularly in high-contact sports such as rugby. Maladaptive anger expression can negatively affect young athletes’ psychological well-being, behavior, and performance. Mental imagery may support emotional regulation by enabling athletes to rehearse adaptive cognitive and emotional responses. This study examined the effectiveness of a personalized mental imagery training program on imagery ability, resilience, and anger expression in adolescent rugby players and investigated whether resilience mediated the relationship between mental imagery and anger expression. Methods: A total of 120 male adolescent rugby players (mean age = 16.9 ± 2.01 years) were assigned to an experimental group (n = 62) or a time-matched educational control group (n = 58). Results: Mixed-design analyses of variance revealed significant Group × Time interactions for imagery ability, resilience, and anger expression, with medium-to-large effect sizes. Compared with the control group, the experimental group demonstrated greater improvements in imagery vividness and resilience, along with a significant reduction in maladaptive anger expression. Mediation analyses showed that resilience significantly mediated the relationship between mental imagery and anger expression, with full mediation for static imagery and partial mediation for dynamic imagery. Conclusions: Personalized mental imagery training effectively enhances emotional regulation in adolescent rugby players, primarily by strengthening resilience. Imagery-based interventions represent a feasible and effective approach to promoting adaptive emotional regulation and psychological well-being in high-contact youth sports.