Sports Pre-Competitive Anxiety Levels among Good and Poor Performing Intercollegiate Athletes

Pre-competitive anxiety refers to the unpleasant emotional state of individuals. It is normal for every athlete to feel nervous before a sports competition. The pre-competitive anxiety levels in the current study examined three features i.e. somatic anxiety, self-confidence, and cognitive anxiety between the sample of poor and good performing athletes. The assessment has been made by using competitive state anxiety inventory -2 (CSAI-2), which is composed of 27 items distributed in equal three subscales of pre-competitive anxiety. The sample of the study was composed of 180 performers of different sports, into groups of 90 each good and poor performer whose ages were between 16 to 27 years. Data collected has been analyzed using a T-test. A significant difference has been found in all of the components of pre-competitive anxiety i.e. cognitive anxiety, self-confidence, and somatic anxiety among good performers and poor performers.

“I learned that sports teaches rape culture”: Assessing Sexual Violence Prevention Education for Intercollegiate Athletes

In fall 2018, 81 intercollegiate athletes participated in Fair Play: Sexual Violence Prevention for Athletes. This study aimed to assess the efficacy of the Fair Play curriculum and facilitation, specifically learning if athletes’ attitudes toward women and/or rape myth acceptance changed as a result of their participation in Fair Play. Athletes completed pre- and post-test surveys to measure perceptions of sexual assault/rape myth acceptance (Gerger, Kley, Bohner, & Siebler, 2007) and gender roles (Spence, Helmreich, & Stapp, 1973). In addition, 20 athletes participated in semi-structured qualitative interviews to further explain their knowledge of sexual violence after completing Fair Play. Survey results showed significant differences for pre- and post-test scores on rape myth acceptance, but not for attitudes toward women. Interview results showed that Fair Play participants could articulate a raised awareness of sexual violence, appropriately define sexual violence and consent, and a rejection of rape myths. Implications include further understanding of effective rape prevention education.

Assessing Burnout in Subgroups of Athletes Based on Gratitude and Perceived Coach-Athlete Relationship

The purpose of this study was to examine distinct groups of athletes based on their gratitude and coach-athlete relationships (CAR) and to compare the groups on three dimensions of athlete burnout: sense of reduced accomplishment, emotional and physical exhaustion, and sport devaluation. Types of gratitude measured included general trait gratitude, general state gratitude, and sport state gratitude. Cluster analysis with 576 intercollegiate athletes showed four distinct groups: “ungrateful in life and sport, and disconnected from the coach” (Group 1), “highly grateful in life and sport, and well-connected with the coach” (Group 2), “generally less grateful in life, but connected with the coach” (Group 3), and “generally grateful in life, but disconnected from the coach” (Group 4). Group 1 reported the highest levels of burnout. In contrast, Group 2 reported the lowest levels of burnout. Athletes in Groups 3 and 4 (which were similar on sport state gratitude, but differed on other indicators) reported moderate levels of burnout, but Group 4 athletes were more burned out than Group 3 athletes. Specifically, both groups reported similar levels of devaluation; yet, Group 4 scored higher on reduced sense of accomplishment and emotional/physical exhaustion than Group 3. Examination of group composition revealed that male athletes were overrepresented in Group 2 and underrepresented in Group 4, and Group 1 athletes tended to identify as non-religious. Taken together, findings point to the protective role that gratitude and a positive CAR may play in athlete burnout prevention.

College Females' Self-Perceptions of Their Overall Physical Self-Worth

The purpose of this study was to determine whether significant differences exist in the domain of overall physical self-worth and the subdomains of sport competence, physical condition, body attractiveness, and physical strength between intercollegiate athletes and regular exercisers, intercollegiate athletes and nonexercisers, and regular exercisers and nonexercisers. The Physical Self-Perception Profile (PSPP) was used to survey female college students attending one Midwestern University. It was concluded that college females who engaged in sport competition and exercise participation perceived their physical selves more positively than did female nonexercisers.

Wobble-Board Balance Intervention to Decrease Symptoms and Prevent Reinjury in Athletes With Chronic Ankle Instability: An Exploration Case Series

Controlled research has shown that a single-exercise wobble-board intervention is effective at reducing symptoms and increasing function in patients with chronic ankle instability. However, the effectiveness of this protocol has not been documented in a realistic intercollegiate athletics environment. Eight intercollegiate athletes with chronic ankle instability participated in an 8-week (3 sessions/wk) wobble-board intervention. In a realistic environment, this simple intervention was feasible to implement and resulted in meaningful improvements in patient-reported stability for more than half of the patients (5 of 8) but only improved the global rating of function and pain for a minority of the patients (2 of 8 and 3 of 8, respectively). Not all patients experienced equal symptom reduction; however, no new ankle sprains occurred during the intervention.