Investigation of the relationships among psychological and cognitive variables in basketball players: Rumination, cognitive flexibility, mental training, and self-regulated learningplayers

The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between rumination, cognitive flexibility, mental training skills and techniques, and self-regulation among basketball players. A total of 413 participants, including 267 male and 146 female basketball players enrolled in the Faculties of Sports Sciences at public universities, were included in the study through convenience sampling based on voluntary participation. The study was designed using a relational survey model. As data collection instruments, the study utilized the "Personal Information Form, Sports Competition Rumination Scale, Athlete Cognitive Flexibility Scale, Mental Training Inventory in Sports, and Self-Regulated Learning Scale". For data analysis, normality assumptions were initially assessed through skewness and kurtosis values, confirming a normal distribution. Accordingly, MANOVA was employed for comparisons between two independent groups, while Pearson correlation analysis was used to determine relationships between variables. The results were analyzed using SPSS 24 and R Studio software. Direct and indirect effects were examined through path analysis using the bootstrap technique with 5,000 resampling iterations and a 95% confidence interval. In this context, cognitive flexibility and mental training were designated as exogenous (external) variables, self-regulated learning as a mediating variable, and rumination as an endogenous (internal) variable in the proposed model. The findings highlight the mitigating effect of cognitive flexibility on rumination, while also suggesting that mental training may exert an indirect influence on rumination through self-regulated learning. Additionally, self-regulated learning was found to play a significant role in reducing rumination, leading to the conclusion that these processes contribute to individuals' cognitive and psychological well-being. Key Words: Sports Psychology, Mental Training, Rumination, Cognitive Flexibility