title: When the going gets tough: Mental toughness and its relationship with behavioural perseverance.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study examined the association between self-reported mental toughness and behavioural perseverance among a sample of male Australian footballers in a naturalistic context.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional field study, with the multistage 20m shuttle run test (MST) employed as a proxy for behavioural perseverance.
  
  
  METHODS
  330 male Australian footballers aged between 15 and 18 years (M=16.86; SD=.71) with between 2 and 14 years playing experience (M=9.32; SD=2.51) participated. Initially, footballers completed a mental toughness questionnaire, before having their height and body mass measurements taken. Subsequently, a performance testing session was completed, which included the 20m sprint, Australian football-specific agility run, vertical jump, and the MST. Bayesian estimation was employed to allow for the simultaneous examination of existing findings with our new data in a way that provides an automatic meta-analysis of evidence in this area.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The analysis indicated a 95% probability that the association between mental toughness and behavioural perseverance lies between .14 and .34, even when controlling for other factors known to influence MST performance, including age, height, body mass, and years playing experience.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Taken together with previous research, these findings support the theoretical proposition that persistence, effort or perseverance represents a behavioural signature of mental toughness.
authors.affiliation: School of Physiotherapy and Exercise Science, Curtin University, Perth, Australia. Electronic address: daniel.f.gucciardi@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Daniel F
authors.initials: DF
authors.lastname: Gucciardi
authors.affiliation: School of Sport Science, Exercise & Health, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, Australia.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Peeling
authors.affiliation: School of Physiotherapy and Exercise Science, Curtin University, Perth, Australia.
authors.forename: Kagan J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Ducker
authors.affiliation: School of Sport Science, Exercise & Health, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, Australia.
authors.forename: Brian
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Dawson
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001499:Bayes Theorem; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005538:Football / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation; D020377:Self Efficacy
keywords: Bayesian structural equation modelling; Beep test; Mentally tough; Substantive-methodological synergy