Background: Competitive university athletes frequently experience performance anxiety, which can adversely affect concentration, motor execution, and overall athletic output. Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) has gained considerable traction in clinical and performance psychology as an evidence-based strategy for managing anxiety; however, its application within competitive collegiate sport settings remains underexplored.

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of an eight-week MBSR intervention programme on reducing performance anxiety and improving self-reported mental readiness among competitive university athletes across team and individual sports disciplines.

Method: A randomized controlled trial (RCT) design was employed. Sixty competitive athletes (n = 60; 34 male, 26 female; Mage = 20.4 ± 1.8 years) from a large public university were randomly assigned to either an MBSR intervention group (n = 30) or a waitlist control group (n = 30). Pre- and post-intervention measures included the Sport Anxiety Scale-2 (SAS-2), the Cognitive Appraisal of Performance Scale (CAPS), and cortisol saliva samples. Data were analyzed using SPSS v.28 with repeated-measures ANCOVA. This study uses a simulated dataset created for academic training purposes.

Key Results: The MBSR group demonstrated a statistically significant reduction in somatic anxiety (p < 0.001, η² = 0.41), worry subscale scores (p = 0.003), and cortisol levels (p = 0.012) compared to controls. Self-confidence indices improved by 27.3% in the intervention group.