The predictive validity of the MTQ48 for academic and athletic success in student-athletes

ABSTRACT

The Mental Toughness Questionnaire-48 (MTQ48) is a widely used instrument that assesses mental toughness. There is limited psychometric validity established for the measure and researchers have questioned its predictive validity (Crust. 2007. Mental toughness in sport: A review. International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 5(3), 270–290. https://doi.org/10.1080/1612197X.2007.9671836; Nicholls, Polman, Levy and Backhouse. 2009. Mental toughness in sport: Achievement level, gender, age, experience, and sport type differences. Personality and Individual Differences, 47(1), 73–75. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2009.02.006). The current study evaluated the relationship between the MTQ48 and athletic excellence and academic performance in Division I athletes. The MTQ48 was administered to N = 245 student-athletes and was compared to grade point average (GPA) and to All-Conference honoree status. Results indicated that All-Conference student-athletes scored significantly higher on the Challenge subscale (p < .01). No other subscales predicted All-Conference status. Higher levels of Commitment and Life Control predicted higher GPAs. These results provide limited support for the predictive validity of three MTQ48 subscales. This study replicates the finding that the full scale MTQ48 does not predict athletic ability, and that the Interpersonal Control and Emotional Control subscales have poor internal consistency.

KEYWORDS:

• Mental toughness
• sport psychology
• all-conference athletes
• collegiate athletes

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the SHAPE team (Zanotti et al., 2018) for conducting data collection and sharing the data for the current project. Part of the current project was previously presented at the American Psychological Association’s 2020 Conference (Stimson et al., 2020).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The authors report there are no competing interests to declare. This study’s data and design were not pre-registered. We report how we determined our sample size, all manipulations, and all measures in the study, and we follow JARS (Appelbaum et al., 2018). All data are available at request of the first author. Data collection was completed and shared by the SHAPE Team (Zanotti et al., 2018).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jack R. Stimson

Jack R. Stimson (MA, University of Tulsa) is a PhD student in the Psychology Department at the University of Tulsa. Jack completed his BS (Psychology) at the University of Washington and his MA (Psychology) at the University of Tulsa. His research interests include applied sport psychology, trauma, and social justice in student-athlete populations. Jack is working on a dissertation examining the effects of institutional betrayal on student-athlete retention.

Emily K. Cromwell

Emily K. Cromwell (PhD, University of Tulsa) is an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics at the University of Rochester Medical Center in Rochester, NY. Dr. Cromwell earned her undergraduate degree from Syracuse University and her doctorate degree in Clinical Psychology from the University of Tulsa. She completed her pre- and post-doctoral trainings in Clinical Psychology at the University of Rochester Medical Center. Dr. Cromwell's professional and research interests include pediatric sleep disorders and anxiety.

Lisa D. Cromer

Lisa D. Cromer (PhD, University of Oregon) is an Associate Professor in Psychology in the Psychology Department at the University of Tulsa. She completed her BA at the University of British Columbia and her MS and PhD at the University of Oregon. Lisa executive director of the Tulsa Institute for Trauma, Adversity and Injustice at the University of Tulsa. Her research interests include sleep and pediatric nightmares, as well as the intersection of historical trauma and betrayal trauma.