SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Movement Science
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1662868
This article is part of the Research TopicInsights and Reviews In Movement Science 2025View all 5 articles
The Effects of Biofeedback Training on Athletes' Mental Health and Performance: A Systematic Review and Bayesian Meta-Analysis
Provisionally accepted
- 1Faculty of Health Sciences and Sports, Macao Polytechnic University, Macau, Macao, SAR China
- 2Sports Teaching and Research Department, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China
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The use of biofeedback training in sports psychology has gained increasing attention in recent years. However, its overall effectiveness in improving athletes' mental health and performance has not yet been comprehensively evaluated. To address this gap, we conducted a systematic search across eight databases including PubMed, Embase, Ovid, CNKI, Scopus, PsycINFO, SPORTDiscus, and Web of Science identifying a total of 5,527 studies. Title and abstract screening were conducted using ASReview, followed by full-text screening via Covidence. Ultimately, 41 studies involving 1,230 athletes met the inclusion criteria for this Bayesian meta-analysis. The results demonstrate that biofeedback training significantly improves athletes' mental health by reducing anxiety and stress, and enhances athletic performance across various sports, including basketball, football, swimming, and balance-related sports. These findings provide robust evidence supporting the integration of biofeedback as an effective adjunctive intervention for promoting mental well-being and optimizing athletic performance.
Keywords: biofeedback, Neurofeedback, Mental Health, Athletic Performance, Bayesian meta-analysis
Received: 09 Jul 2025; Accepted: 30 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Zhang, Chang, Zhao and Ning. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Zhizhao Chang, changzz@lzu.edu.cn
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