Abstract
Imagery is an important mental strategy used for both cognitive and motivational purposes by athletes of varying ages (Gregg & Hall, 2006) and abilities (Shearer et al., 2007). Similarly, mental toughness is also considered an important psychological skill in obtaining athletic excellence (Jones et al., 2007). Despite the importance of these two constructs, only one study has examined the relationship between imagery use and the development of mental toughness (Mattie & Munroe-Chandler, 2012), and this was conducted with a sample of able-bodied athletes. It is equally important to determine if the relationship between imagery use and the development of mental toughness is evident for athletes of varying physical abilities. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to examine the relationship between imagery use and mental toughness in athletes with a disability. Participants included 124 athletes with a disability (Mage= 31). Participants completed the Sport Imagery Questionnaire (Hall et al., 1998) and the Mental Toughness 48 Inventory (Clough et al., 2002). Hierarchical multiple regression analyses showed that imagery use significantly predicted mental toughness. Furthermore, motivational general-mastery imagery emerged as the strongest predictor for each dimension of mental toughness (β = .33-.46). These findings provide further support for imagery use as a potential strategy for developing or enhancing mental toughness, not only in able-bodied athletes but also in athletes with a disability.
