Psychological Resilience as a Mediator in the Effect of Subjective Vitality on Test Anxiety Among Student-Athletes
Abstract
This study investigates the mediating role of psychological resilience in the effect of subjective vitality on test anxiety among university student-athletes. Student-athletes often face increased psychological pressure due to academic responsibilities and intensive training schedules, which can heighten test anxiety and hinder both academic and athletic performance. Subjective vitality, grounded in self-determination theory, refers to individuals’ sense of energy and aliveness, whereas psychological resilience represents the capacity to adapt to stress and recover from adversity. Both constructs are recognized as protective factors within educational and sport psychology. The research employed a relational screening model with a causal-comparative framework. The sample consisted of 223 student-athletes enrolled in the Faculties of Sport Sciences at universities across Türkiye. Participants voluntarily completed standardized instruments assessing subjective vitality, psychological resilience, and test anxiety. Ethical approval was obtained from the Ethics Committee of Atatürk University. Data analyses were performed using IBM SPSS 27, AMOS, and the PROCESS Macro with 5.000 bootstrap resamples to test the proposed mediation model. Findings showed that subjective vitality significantly predicted higher psychological resilience, while resilience had a significant negative effect on test anxiety. Although subjective vitality did not directly predict test anxiety, mediation analysis demonstrated that psychological resilience indirectly reduced its impact. Individuals with greater vitality displayed stronger resilience, contributing to lower levels of test anxiety. These results highlight the central role of psychological resilience in reducing test anxiety among student-athletes. The study enriches current understanding and recommends integrating resilience-based interventions into student support programs. Future research should employ further longitudinal designs.
Keywords
Academic Stress Coping Skills Mediation Analysis Self-Determination Theory Sport Psychology
Ethical Statement
Bu çalışma, insan katılımcılarla yürütülen bilimsel araştırmalar için gerekli olan etik ilkeler doğrultusunda gerçekleştirilmiştir. Araştırma sürecinde, katılımcıların gönüllülüğü esas alınmış, tüm katılımcılardan bilgilendirilmiş onam alınmıştır. Katılımcıların kimlik bilgileri gizli tutulmuş ve elde edilen veriler yalnızca bilimsel amaçlarla kullanılmıştır. Araştırmanın etik uygunluğu, Atatürk Üniversitesi Etik Kurulu tarafından 17.07.2025 tarihli ve 2025/07 sayılı toplantıda oy birliğiyle onaylanmıştır.
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Details
| Primary Language | English |
|---|---|
| Subjects | Sport and Exercise Psychology |
| Journal Section | Research Article |
| Authors | |
| Submission Date | September 11, 2025 |
| Acceptance Date | January 25, 2026 |
| Early Pub Date | March 18, 2026 |
| Publication Date | March 18, 2026 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.54141/psbd.1782501 |
| IZ | https://izlik.org/JA55LN25UZ |
| Published in Issue | Year 2026 Issue: Advanced Online Publication |
Aim & Scope
Aim
Pamukkale Journal of Sport Sciences (PJSS) is an open-access, interdisciplinary journal that presents the latest research in the field of sport sciences, operating as the official research journal of Pamukkale University Faculty of Sport Sciences.
PJSS aims to support scientific research and increase knowledge in a wide range of sport sciences subfields such as leisure & sport management, physical activity, health & exercise, social & behavioral sciences, sports performance and teacher education & sport pedagogy. Our aim is to explore different aspects of sport, make significant contributions in these areas and provide valuable resources to our academic community.
Scope
The scope of our journal expands under the following main topics:
Leisure & Sport Management:
- Innovative leisure studies in social, psychological, cultural, political, environmental and health dimensions at individual, group, community, and societal levels.
- Studies that highlight theory, methodology, methods and advance the understanding of leisure receive.
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Social & Behavioral Sciences:
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Sports Performance:
- Investigations examining the various methods used to assess athlete performance
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- Investigations on the physiological adaptation of athletes to training
- Investigations examining how technology can optimize athlete performance
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- Investigations on talent selection in sports
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All manuscripts must be submitted online at https://dergipark.org.tr/en/journal/1109/submission/step/manuscript/new following the instructions below. Manuscripts submitted via e-mail will not be considered for publication.
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All articles should be submitted in Microsoft Word format (doc or docx). The automatic line numbering and page numbering functions to number the lines and pages should be used in the main text.
Four separate documents under the following titles must be uploaded for all manuscripts:
1. Title page (Click for Template)
2. Main Text (Click for Template)
3. Copyright Agreement Form (Click for the form)
Article Types
Pamukkale Journal of Sport Sciences publishes research articles, reviews, case studies and editorials. The articles submitted to the journal should contain new data on theoretical research, experimental research or practical applications in the field of sport sciences. It is important to note that the submitted articles should not have been published elsewhere.
Review
Review articles survey recent developments in a topical area of sport sciences. The Editor or Associate Editors usually invite review articles. However, self-invited manuscripts would be considered only if the authors have a proven track record of productivity in the relevant field being reviewed. Systematic review and meta-analysis should follow the EQUATOR Reporting Guidelines (https://www.equator-network.org/reporting-guidelines/prisma/). The main text should start with Abstract, Introduction and end with Conclusion and References sections. Authors may choose to use any subheading in between those sections.
A Case Report is a detailed and in-depth examination (including all types of interventions) of a specific topic, usually involving an athlete, and the results obtained. This comprehensive review should reveal new or rare cases within the selected subject. The detailed analysis should include the history of the subject, the symptoms, the diagnostic methods used, the subtleties of the interventions applied and the final results observed. Case report studies should be oriented towards understanding unique scenarios, promoting continuous learning and increasing the overall knowledge of the relevant field. Case report studies should include an Abstract, Keywords, an Introduction, a Case Description, Discussion, and Conclusion sections.
Research Article
Abstract
The abstract should be limited to 250 words, followed by 3 - 6 keywords that are not included in the title. The abstract should include sentences (without titles) related to the aim of the study, methods, results, and conclusions. Also, non-standard or uncommon abbreviations should be avoided. However, If they are necessary, define them in the first instance they are used in the abstract.
Keywords: keyword, keyword, keyword
Introduction
This section should orient the reader to the article's content and provide an understanding of the importance of the research. This section should clearly state the study's purpose, importance and scope. In addition, it should introduce the basic concepts related to the topic. Furthermore, the main questions or hypotheses of the research should be stated and explain to the reader what problems it aims to solve.
Methods
Participants
In this section, research participants should be identified. Demographic information (age, gender, education level, etc.) of the participants should be provided in this section. In addition, information on adherence to ethical rules and ethics committee approval for research involving humans or animals should be included in this section.
Note: In this section, the institution where the ethics committee approval was obtained should be written as XXX University (Year and number). The institution where the ethics committee approval was obtained should be clearly written on the title page.
Procedures
The design used in the research, e.g. cross-sectional, longitudinal, experimental, etc. and sampling method should be included in this section. In addition, methods such as surveys, interviews, observations, or laboratory experiments should be described in this section. Moreover, while describing these methods, the tools and materials used in the research should also be mentioned in this section.
Data Analysis
In the section, the statistical methods used in the research, the software used, content analysis, etc. should be explained in detail.
Results
All details such as tables, figures, etc. showing the research results should be included in this section. The number of each table, figure, etc. should be expressed primarily in the text. The main findings that are the focus of the research should be explained in detail in this section. In particular, findings that are noteworthy and/or unexpected in the research should be emphasized.
Discussion
In this section, findings should be associated with the literature and important findings should be emphasized. Explanation of contradictory or inconsistent findings, if any. Comparisons between different groups or relationships between variables should be discussed with the support of the literature. Limitations of the study, if any, should be given at the end of this section.
Conclusions
This section should summarize the main findings of the research. Also in this section, the main points of the data obtained should be emphasized and these findings should be related to their general context. In addition, recommendations for future research should be made in this section.
Practical Implications
This section should highlight the implications of the research for daily practice. It should also discuss the potential implications of the findings for practice. This section should explain how the concrete results of the research can be used, providing recommendations for professionals in the sectors.
1. Title Page
Please indicate this file's name as: "Title Page". The title page should contain the following information:
Manuscript Title: Should be clear, descriptive, and not too long.
Running Head: Limited to 50 characters in length, including spaces.
Authors’ Full Name(s) and Surname(s): Do not list academic degrees.
ORCID ID for all Author (s) (http://orcid.org/)
Authors’ Affiliations and e-mail (s): Author’s affiliation should be included: Department, University, City, Country respectively.
Contact details for the corresponding author: The name, institution, mail address, telephone number, and e-mail address of the corresponding author.
Section name to evaluate the study: Choose one of the sections below:
• Leisure & Sport Management
• Physical Activity, Health & Exercise
• Social & Behavioral Sciences
• Sports Performance
• Teacher Education & Sport Pedagogy
Acknowledgements: Information concerning financial support, technical assistance, and intellectual contributions not associated with authorship should be provided.
Conflict of interest declaration: Information concerning conflict of interest should be provided if necessary.
2. Main Text
Please indicate this file's name as: "Blind Main Text" and don't mention any information regarding the author(s)' personal information. Main Text should include the manuscript title in capital letters. The main text must contain the following sections with titles ; Abstract, Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusion, Practical Implications, and References.
The abstract should be limited to 250 words, followed by 3 - 6 keywords not used in the title. The abstract should include sentences (without titles) related to the aim of the study, methods, results, and conclusions. Also, from non-standard or uncommon abbreviations should be avoided. However, if necessary, they should be defined in the first mentioned place in the abstract.
All references must be written according to the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.) citation format (known as APA 7). For further information, please visit the website https://apastyle.apa.org/
Reference can be made to sources in text (Arslan & Bulgu, 2010). If multiple sources are given, this should be done in alphabetical order. If the names are the same, years should be considered. For a work with three or more authors, include the name of only the first author plus “et al.” in every citation, including the first citation (Yıldız et al., 2015). Direct quotations in the text “must be written in quotation marks” (Avşar et. al., 2019, p. 400), or Hürmeriç Altunsöz & Yapar (2019) emphasize that direct quotations in the text “must be written in quotation marks” (p. 30).
Sample Bibliography
Arslan, Y., & Bulgu, N. (2010). Socialization via play. Pamukkale Journal of Sport Sciences, 1 (1), 8–22. https://doi.org/pjss
Yıldız, A., Koçak, S., Altunsöz, I. H., & Devrilmez, E. (2015). Spectators’ Participation Decisions in the Basketball Matches. Pamukkale Journal of Sport Sciences, 6(1), 1–11. https://doi.org/pjss.
Arslan, Y., & Semiz, K. (Eds.). (2020). Beden Eğitimi ve Sporda Öğretim Teknolojileri. Pegem Akademi Yayıncılık. https://doi.org/10.14527/9786050370010
Reference to a book chapter
Avşar, Z., Hünük, D. & Demirhan, G. (2019). Physical Education Teacher Education in Turkey. In MacPhail, A., Tannehill, D. ve Avsar , Z. (Eds.), European Physical Education Teacher Education Practices (pp. 397-413). Meyer & Meyer Sports
Yıldız, A. (n.d.). General Information. Retrieved February 3, 2021, from https://www.pau.edu.tr/sbf/en/sayfa/general-information-12
All the copyright of submitted articles must be transferred to PJSS during the article submission process. Therefore, Copyright Agreement Form signed by all authors must be submitted with the article. For Copyright Agreement Form, please click here. For Authorship Form, please click here.
Ethical Principles and Publication Policy
About Journal
The Pamukkale Journal of Sport Sciences (PJSS) is the official research journal of the Pamukkale University Faculty of Sport Sciences. The PJSS aims to publish articles of international high standards. The PJSS is published three times a year (April, August and December). Manuscripts submitted to the journal for evaluation should be written in English. PJSS publishes research articles and reviews contributing to the knowledge about sport sciences areas.
Publication Ethics and Policy
PJSS editorial, reviewer, authorship and publication processes are organized according to the recommendations of the International Council of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) and Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). In addition, the journal complies with the Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scientific Publishing (doaj.org/bestpractice).
Research Ethics
Manuscripts submitted to the PJSS must be original, unpublished, and not under evaluation by another journal simultaneously. Authors who wish to withdraw their manuscript for any reason should contact the editor promptly.
Authors conducting research involving human participants must adhere to the ethical principles outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki (2013). Ethical approval must be obtained from an institutional review board (the project code and approval date must be stated in the manuscript’s Method section), and informed consent must be collected from participants. For vulnerable populations, such as children or individuals with mental illness, consent must also be obtained from legal guardians.
Animal Research Ethics
Research articles and case studies involving animal subjects must adhere to the Universal Declaration of Animal Rights. Ethical approval from a research ethics committee is required, and the project code and approval date must be stated in the manuscript’s Method section. Animal studies must ensure the welfare of animals by minimizing pain and adhering to the principles of replacement, reduction, and refinement (3Rs).
The journal reserves the right to request supporting documents and will reject submissions that do not comply with these standards.
Duties and Responsibilities of the Editorial Board
• PJSS Editorial Board strives to increase the quality of the publications constantly.
• PJSS Editorial Board is responsible for the establishment and implementation of regulations such as publication, blind review evaluation process and ethical principles.
• PJSS Editorial Board prepares the "Author's Guidelines" that the authors can use in the article submission process and the "Reviewer’s Guidelines" that the reviewers can use during the evaluation process, and updates these guides when necessary.
Ethical Duties and Responsibilities of Editors:
• PJSS Editor-in-Chief and Section Editors are responsible for all ethical components created by the “Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE)”.
• PJSS Editors evaluate important components such as the originality of the manuscript, its contribution to the literature, the validity and reliability of the data collection tools, the comprehensibility and fluency of the writing language in the decision-making process for each manuscript submitted, in line with the purpose and scope of the journal.
• PJSS Editors evaluate a manuscript submitted to the journal in terms of its compliance with the publication policy of the journal and have the right to reject it if the editors do not find it appropriate.
• PJSS Editors take a manuscript submitted to the journal in the pre-evaluation stage in terms of the journal's publication policy unless it has a fundamental scientific error.
• PJSS Editors ensure that each article is evaluated within the specified time within the principle of impartiality by applying the policies regarding the double-blind review and evaluation process adopted by the journal and keeping the identity information of the reviewers confidential.
• PJSS Editors are responsible for taking the necessary steps to prevent possible conflicts of interest and evaluate the existing statements that cause a conflict of interest regarding the publication. In the event of a conflict of interest, Editors have the authority to request the original documents such as the Ethics Committee Permission, the Interviewer Voluntary Consent Forms from the author.
• PJSS Editors act in accordance with the journal's policies and procedures in case of a complaint regarding a submitted article that violates ethical principles. The Editors provide the authors with the opportunity to respond to the complaint and implement the necessary sanctions if deemed necessary.
Ethical Duties and Responsibilities of Authors:
PJSS observes the highest standards in research ethics and adopts the principles of international research ethics defined below. The authors are responsible for the compliance of the manuscripts with the ethical rules.
• The principles of integrity, quality and transparency should be ensured in the design of the research, the review of the design and the execution of the research.
• The researchers and the participants should be fully informed about the purpose of the research, its methods and the possible uses anticipated, necessities and, if any, risks of participation to the research.
• Confidentiality of information provided by research participants and respondents should be ensured. Research should be designed in a way that preserves the autonomy and dignity of the participants.
• The author(s) should provide assurance that the manuscript is original, has not been published elsewhere and is not currently being evaluated for publication elsewhere. Copyright laws and treaties in practice must be considered. The materials depend on copyright (e.g. tables, figures or large quotations) should be used with the necessary permission and acknowledgment note.
• The submitted manuscript should have a direct contribution of all authors. In this respect, the "author" has a duty to make a significant contribution to the conceptualization and design of the research, to obtain, analyze or interpret the data, to write the article or to review content critically. All individuals designated as authors must meet all listed criteria, and each individual meeting the above criteria should be cited as authors. The name order of the authors should be a common decision. All authors must confirm the author order by signing the Copyright Agreement Form.
• All individuals who do not meet the sufficient criteria for authorship listed above but contribute to the study should be listed in the "Acknowledgements” section.
• All authors must disclose financial relationships, conflicts of interest and competition of interest that have the potential to affect the results of the research and/or scientific evaluation. If an author detects a significant error or inaccuracy in his or her published article, author bears the responsibility to immediately contact and cooperate with the Editor to correct these inaccuracies.
• Changing the order of authors, removing authors, adding authors to a manuscript submitted for publication should not be suggested to the Editorial Board.
• During the evaluation process, author(s) should submit the expected information to the Editors urgently in case of information or raw data is requested about their manuscripts.
• Research participants should take part in the research voluntarily and should not be under any coercion. Informed consent form should be obtained from the study participants. The legal guardian's consent must be obtained for children and those under guardianship or those with a confirmed mental illness. If the study will be carried out in any institution or organization, approval must be obtained from the authority of this institution or organization. In studies conducted with human subjects, it should be stated that "informed consent" was obtained from the participants and the ethics committee approval was obtained from the institution where the study was conducted in the "method" section.
• In the studies previously presented in a symposium, workshop or congress, the name, place and date of the organization should be specified on the "Title page".
• The final version is re-sent to the corresponding author for the final check before publication in order to prevent any errors that may occur during typesetting. After the final approval of the corresponding author, the article is published as “online first publication”.
Ethical Duties and Responsibilities of Reviewers:
• In PJSS, evaluation is applied according to the double-blind system, and the evaluation period assigned to the referees for submitted articles is 30 days. Reviewers are expected to complete their evaluations within this period and to fill in the evaluation form on the DergiPark system and submit it to the Editor. For each article, 2 reviewers are assigned to evaluate. In case of a difference of opinion in the 2 reviewers’ evaluations, the relevant section editor can engage the third reviewer if necessary, and as a result of these evaluations, the section editor and the editor make the decision about the manuscript.
In this process, our Reviewers are expected to consider the following:
• In cases where the reviewers do not feel confident on the subject of the article, they think they cannot evaluate it on time, or they notice a conflict of interest, they should inform the editor to not to be included in the review process.
• Reviewers are required to complete their evaluations within the time given to them. If the reviewers cannot complete the evaluation within the specified time, they can contact the editor/section editor and request additional time. Otherwise, the editor will be able to change the reviewer, provided that the reviewer is informed.
• Reviewers are expected to take into consideration the journal writing rules as a guide while making their evaluations.
• It must be ensured that personal information and contact information are not included in the reviewer evaluation reports upload to the DergiPark system.
• It is not ethical for reviewers to ask authors to cite their publication(s). We kindly request our reviewers to be sensitive about this issue.
• Reviewers should see the participants’ voluntary consent forms and the consent of the participants. If there is a deficiency in this subject in the study, it must be stated in the reviewer report.
• Reviewers are expected to provide opinions on all parts of the article, including summary, introduction, method, findings and discussion after sharing their general opinions about the manuscript.
• Reviewers are expected to give constructive suggestions to the authors and to make scientific suggestions to improve their manuscripts. In this regard, ambiguous and subjective suggestions are to be avoided.
• Reviewers who decide to reject the manuscript they evaluate are expected to be sure that the reasons and suggestions they convey to the author using a constructive and professional language are concrete.
Copyright Agreement and Authorship
All the copyright of submitted articles must be transferred to PJSS during the article submission process. Therefore, Copyright Agreement Form signed by all authors must be submitted with the article. For Copyright Agreement Form, please click here. For Authorship Form, please click here.
Corrections and Retractions Policy
The PJSS is committed to maintaining the accuracy, integrity, and transparency of the academic record. Comprehensive measures are implemented to address errors, inaccuracies, and ethical concerns systematically and transparently, in alignment with international ethical standards, including the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).
Corrections Policy
Corrections are issued to address minor errors that do not affect the validity or reliability of the research findings.
• A correction notice will be issued promptly and will be clearly labeled as either an “Erratum” (journal-introduced error) or a “Corrigendum” (author-introduced error).
• The correction notice will be linked to the original article and include a detailed explanation of the changes made.
• The original article will remain accessible to ensure transparency.
Retractions Policy
Retractions are implemented in cases of significant errors or ethical misconduct, such as data fabrication, plagiarism, or duplicate publication.
• A retraction notice will clearly state the reasons for the retraction and will be linked to the original article.
• The retraction notice will be reflected in relevant indexes to maintain the integrity of the academic record.
• The original article will remain accessible but will be marked as retracted.
Ethical Oversight
In cases of ethical misconduct or disputes, the journal will follow COPE guidelines, including relevant flowcharts.
• If necessary, institutions or relevant authorities will be contacted for further investigation.
• Collaborative investigations with other editors or ombudspersons may be conducted to ensure fairness.
Plagiarism Detection
The PJSS editor team will certainly not tolerate any form of plagiarism. Therefore, all manuscripts submitted to PJSS are screened for plagiarism by using intihal.net©. The similarity percentage for the complete manuscript must be less than 20%.
Open Access Policy
PJSS provides open access to its content, based on the principle that offering the public free access to research studies helps towards a better global exchange of knowledge. Each article accepted for publication will be published under a Creative Commons license and will be hosted online perpetuity.
Price Policy
There are no submission fees, publication fees or page charges for this journal.
Indexes
Journal Boards
President, on behalf of Pamukkale University Faculty of Sport Sciences
Editor-in-Chief
Section Editor: Leisure & Sport Management
Section Editor: Physical Activity, Health & Exercise
Section Editor: Social & Behavioral Sciences
Section Editor: Sports Performance
Section Editor: Teacher Education & Sport Pedagogy
Hacettepe University, Faculty of Sport Sciences
