Regular sleep quality and psychological state correlate in collegiate competitive springboard divers

Problem Statement: Mental health issues in athletes are gaining increasing attention, and proper sleep is an important factor for healthy mental health and improved athletic performance. Objectives: To explore the association between psychological evaluations regarding sports competitions and sleep quality in collegiate springboard divers. Methods: A cross-sectional study design was launched with 26 collegiate springboard diving athletes who answered a State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for evaluating anxiety as well as Diagnostic Inventory of Psychological-Competitive Ability for Athletes, a self-administered psychological questionnaire specific to competitive athletes. Sleep quality was assessed using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and the correlation between psychological and sleep variables were assessed as well. Additionally, the psychological variables were compared between poor and normal sleep quality groups. Results: On psychological evaluation, PSQI scores showed significant negative correlations with results for self-control (ρ = −0.670, p < 0.001), ability to relax (ρ = −0.508, p < 0.001), and concentration (ρ = −0.589, p < 0.001). Significantly higher scores for self-control (p < 0.001), ability to relax (p = 0.004), and concentration (p = 0.001) were obtained in the normal sleep group compared to the poor sleep group. Conclusions: Our results suggest that sleep quality and duration are significantly related to psychological variables that reflect the domain of mental stability and concentration, especially the item of self-control. Additionally, the level of trait anxiety was considerably associated with poor sleep quality. Adequate sleep is essential to ameliorate the sense of self-control and vice versa. Considering that psychological testing is not practical because of its complexity as well as the attitude of athletes, sleep assessment can act as a convenient substitute for their psychological evaluation.