Date of Graduation

1996

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

Abstract

The study's intents were two-fold: (1) to examine Association for the Advancement of Applied Sport Psychology (AAASP) members' perceptions regarding the acceptability of coaches delivering psychological interventions (PI) to their athletes; and (2) to determine what PI, if any, coaches are administering to their athletes. AAASP members were mailed a survey with a 67.77% (N = 143) return rate. A separate questionnaire was mailed to National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I baseball (N = 145; 37.08%), softball (N = 131, 60.37%), and tennis (N = 431; 65.11%) coaches. AAASP participants were mailed a second questionnaire (N = 106; 74%) with one year between administrations to establish the reliability of the questionnaire. Intraclass reliability coefficients ranged from.40 to.57 across a one year duration. The factor analysis revealed that AAASP participants clustered PI into three categories: (1) performance enhancement interventions; (2) personal/developmental concerns; and (3) issues focusing on clinical concerns. However, the MANOVA results did not yield any statistically significant differences regarding which PI category, if any, was more appropriate for a coach to administer. Educational background appeared to have a significant impact upon the AAASP members' perceptions. Those from a physical education background were more inclined, than those from a counseling/psychology program, to condone coaches' administration of certain PI (e.g., visualization, relaxation techniques, attention training). While only 21% of coaches used sport psychology services, 93% indicated that they were willing to use a sport psychologist. Cost, availability of a qualified sport psychologist, and time limitations were factors that hindered their utilization of sport psychology services. Furthermore, experienced coaches revealed that they used PI more than those coaches with limited experience. Except for issues involving grief, no statistically significant difference existed between male and female coaches use of PI. Finally, coaches indicated that they were administering PI with their athletes, regardless of their professional training.

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