Relationship Between Mental Toughness, Stress, Anxiety and Depression

. Introduction. Mental toughness (MT) is defined by some authors as being fundamental to success in life. In terms of sport at the highest level, is based on the athlete's ability to perform at optimal levels under conditions considered very demanding. MT is considered one of the most important psychological construct underlying sport performance, and is seen as an umbrella concept that encompasses a large number of psychological factors / features connected to each other. Objective. The objective of the present study was to investigate the relationship between mental toughness, stress, anxiety and depression among a sample of athletes. Methods. The sample in this study consisted of 47 participants. There were 57.4% males and 42.6% females. Their age ranged from 19 to 30 years with M= 21.89 (SD = 2.72). 68.1% of them being performance athletes (from different sports) and 31.9% are students of the faculty of physical education. Results. Distribution indicators were evaluated against standard skewness and kurtosis criteria. There was no significant deviation from the standards. Correlation between Mental Toughness Inventory and Dass21 overall score was r= -.53; and between MT and stress, anxiety and depresion ranged between r= -.49 and r= -52. Correlation between Dass21 dimension ranged between r=.85 and r=.98. Conclusions. The results of the current study highlighted the relationship between mental toughness stress, anxiety and depresion. Higher levels of MT have a significant impact in reducing stress, anxiety and depression which can help athletes perform better.