The role of psychological factors and food in improving athletic performance: an analytical study of a specific sports organization's society.

BACKGROUND

Athletic performance reflects the interplay of physical, psychological, and nutritional factors. Although the individual roles of mental and dietary factors are increasingly recognized, their combined relationship with performance within a defined sports organization has rarely been examined.

OBJECTIVE

This cross-sectional study examined the associations of psychological factors (motivation, anxiety, mental resilience, self-confidence) and self-reported nutritional practices with self-perceived athletic performance among athletes affiliated with a sports organization in Rizhao, Shandong, China (n = 100).

METHODS

A descriptive, cross-sectional, analytical design was used. One hundred actively competing athletes completed self-report instruments comprising an adapted Athletic Mental Energy Scale and selected Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2 (CSAI-2R) subscales (motivation, cognitive and somatic anxiety, mental resilience, self-confidence; 5-point Likert scaling), a nutritional practices questionnaire (pre-competition nutrition, hydration, meal regularity, supplement use), and a self-perceived performance rating (0-10). Data were analyzed in SPSS (v26) using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, multiple linear regression controlling for age, sport type, and competitive level, and a moderation analysis; statistical significance was set at p < 0.05.

RESULTS

Intrinsic motivation showed the strongest positive association with self-perceived performance (r = 0.68, p < 0.001), followed by self-reported pre-competition nutrition (r = 0.62) and mental resilience (r = 0.59), whereas cognitive anxiety was negatively associated (r = -0.51). In multiple regression, the model explained 61% of the variance (R 2 = 0.61; F(6,93) = 24.3, p < 0.001), with intrinsic motivation (β = 0.42), mental resilience (β = 0.31), and pre-competition nutrition (β = 0.28) as the strongest independent predictors and cognitive anxiety as a significant negative predictor (β = -0.19); supplement use was not significant (β = 0.09). Nutritional adherence significantly moderated the stress-performance association (interaction β = -0.23, p = 0.014), such that higher adherence was associated with a smaller decline in performance at higher stress levels.

CONCLUSION

Within this organization, psychological factors and nutritional practices were jointly associated with self-perceived athletic performance. Integrated support combining motivational and mental-skills strategies with structured nutritional guidance appears important for athlete development, although the cross-sectional, self-report design precludes causal inference.