Long-distance runners often encounter private events while running that may negatively impact their performance, such as staying on pace throughout the duration of a run. Recent research has attempted to target the private events of athletes through a variety of mindfulness-based approaches with varied results. Despite the popularity of mindfulness approaches, there is limited research evaluating the effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), a behavior analytic approach that combines mindfulness strategies with behavior change strategies to target psychological flexibility (PF), on the performance of athletes. The current study used a multiple baseline across participants design to evaluate the effects of a brief ACT intervention on three female high school cross country runner’s ability to meet goal pace times. In addition, the study evaluated whether the intervention impacted participant’s self-reports of PF after a run. Results of the study indicate the ACT intervention did not impact participant’s goal pace times but was effective at increasing participants’ self-reports of PF. Implications of the study and future research are discussed.
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