Positive emotions have been shown to be important for athletes` performances, recovery, mental health, and development. Especially, in elite youth sports guided interventions could help athletes to up-regulate their positive emotions. Using a within-subject design, this exploratory study evaluated the effectiveness of five short-term interventions (focus on breathing, imagination of a happy moment, self-chosen happy music, reflecting reasons for doing sport, writing down personal strength) to up-regulate positive emotions in a sample of 21 youth athletes (M = 16.27, SD = 1.49). In addition, we explored their effects on physiological responses (blood pressure, heart rate, heart rate variability, cortisol, testosterone). A repeated-measures MANOVA revealed that imagination of a happy moment and reflecting reasons for doing sport were more effective than the control condition (five minutes sitting in silence) in increasing positive emotions. In addition, all interventions and the control condition were shown to reduce physiological activation over time. To this end, we recommend the application of short-term interventions to regulate emotions and related physiological responses in youth elite athletes.
© Copyright 2025 International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology. Taylor & Francis. All rights reserved.