Personal goal management intervention and mood states in soccer academies

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of a personal goal-based intervention on positive and negative moods among young athletes at a soccer academy. Study participants (N = 22) were randomized into either a treatment group, which participated in a personal goal-management program (Bouffard, Labelle, Dubé, & Lapierre, 1999), or a neutral-task control group. Participants’mood states were measured every 3 weeks. Results indicated significant postintervention group differences in positive and negative moods states, with the treatment group reporting higher levels of positive moods and lower levels of negative moods. A significant within-group difference over time was also found for the treatment group, indicating an increase in positive mood states and decrease in negative mood states as the program progressed. Findings from this study are used to inform recommendations for sport psychology interventions that use specific goal management procedures to facilitate positive emotional states among young athletes.