Sport Psychology Considerations in Intercollegiate Athletics in the United States

Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Psychology ◽

10.1093/acrefore/9780190236557.013.179 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Christopher M. Bader ◽

Scott B. Martin

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

United States ◽

Intercollegiate Athletics ◽

Sport Psychology ◽

Performance Enhancement ◽

The United States ◽

Optimal Level ◽

Athletic Department ◽

Intercollegiate Athletic ◽

And Performance

As a field of study, sport psychology is relatively young, gaining its formalized start in the United States in the 1920s. Then and now, the practice of sport psychology is concerned with the recognition of psychological factors that influence performance and ensuring that individuals and teams can perform at an optimal level. In the past 30 years, sport psychologists have made their way into intercollegiate athletics departments providing mental health and performance enhancement services to intercollegiate student-athletes. The differentiation between mental health practice and performance enhancement practice is still a source of some confusion for individuals tasked with hiring sport psychology professionals. Additionally, many traditionally trained practitioners (in both mental health and performance enhancement) are unaware of the dynamics of an intercollegiate athletic department. The interplay of the practitioner and those departmental dynamics can greatly influence the efficacy of the practitioner.

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Newspaper Portrayals of Sport Psychology in the United States, 1985-1993

The Sport Psychologist ◽

10.1123/tsp.12.1.89 ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

pp. 89-94 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Britton W. Brewer ◽

Judy L. Van Raalte ◽

Albert J. Petitpas ◽

Alan D. Bachman ◽

Robert A. Weinhold

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Mass Media ◽

Sport Psychology ◽

Performance Enhancement ◽

The United States ◽

Cognitive Behavioral ◽

The Public ◽

The Media ◽

The Mass Media ◽

The Way

To assess the way in which sport psychology is portrayed in the media, the content and tone of all articles (N = 574) from three national newspapers in the United States that mentioned sport psychology from 1985-1993 were examined. Although few articles were focused primarily on sport psychology, a wide variety of sports and professionals were identified in association with sport psychology. Interventions noted explicitly were predominantly cognitive-behavioral procedures. Performance enhancement was the primary purpose of sport psychology consultation described in the articles. The vast majority of articles were neutral in tone toward sport psychology, portraying the field in objective terms. The findings suggest that the mass media can be used to promote accurate perceptions of sport psychology to the public.

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