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The role of coach-athlete relationships on youth athlete performance and development outcomes has generated significant research interest seeking to understand the dynamics that underlie the nature and development of these relationships. Earlier investigations focused on understanding coaching styles and coaching leadership behaviors which made coaches effective and successful. However, there has been a shift in focus to how coach behaviors and leadership styles affect relationships with athletes and their performance outcomes. More recently, researchers have developed interest in the role of these relationships on athletes' psychological states and wellbeing. This shift has been necessitated in part by growing evidence of coaches' abuse of power, emotional and sexual abuse, and maltreatment of athletes. The recent rise to prominence of mental health states of elite athletes has also led to new ways of looking at coach-athlete relationships. Of recent interest is how these relationships could tilt in a direction that either positively or negatively affect athletes' mental health. Consequently, there is an emerging body of literature devoted to understanding how the quality and type of coach-athlete relationships relate to mental health and wellbeing of athletes. The goal of this two-study dissertation was to investigate how coach-athlete relationships relate to mental health states of young adult and adolescent athletes in the US and Botswana. Study 1 involved descriptive analyses of the relationships between coach-athlete relationships, mental health, coping functions, and psychological skills of young adult athletes aged 18-24 years. This study involved a sample of 62 young adult athletes in the Greater Lansing area in the state of Michigan who agreed to complete in an online survey. Independent samples t-tests showed that female young athletes reported quality coach-athlete relationships, coping and psychological skills but scored poorly on mental health than their male counterparts. Complementarity, a dimension of the coach-athlete relationship, had significant positive correlations with motivation and mental preparation which are both dimensions of psychological skills. Regression analyses showed that coach-athlete relationships did not predict mental health. The data did not support the hypothesized mediational role of psychological skills. These results could have largely been influenced by a small sample size and a substantial amount of missing data which could have been due to zoom fatigue in the COVID era. Despite the small sample size and other limitations, the findings show that, overall female athletes have better coach-athlete relationships and resorted more to emotion-focused coping than their male peers. A larger sample size was needed to fully examine the mediational relationship. Study 2 was an extension of Study 1 with a large sample of adolescent athletes from Botswana. A sample of 255 adolescent senior secondary school student-athletes from Botswana completed pencil and paper questionnaires. The main aim of study 2 was to test the mediational role of psychological skills and coping function in the relationship between coach-athlete relationships and mental health. Regression analyses showed that coach-athlete relationships predicted both mental health and coping functions, and that coping functions in turn predicted mental health. In the mediation model, psychological skills and coping function mediated the effect of complementarity on social dysfunction and dysphoria (mental health). However, psychological skills alone did not mediate the effect of coach-athlete relationships on mental health. Overall, the two studies emphasize the importance of positive coach-athlete relationships as they are facilitative of athletes' good mental health, coping abilities, and wellbeing of adolescent and young adult athletes. In turn good mental health, adaptive coping function and wellbeing positively impact sports climate and athletes' experiences. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

The purpose of this research is to examine factors influencing the academic success of student athletes participating in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA); a growing and largely unstudied group of students. This study uses institutional data collected for the NAIA's Return on Athletics® initiative in 2019-2020 as well as, data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS). Five research questions used logistic regression to explore factors that influence student athlete retention, graduation, differences for varsity and non-varsity athletes, for various levels of academic performance, and athletic scholarship totals. All data were analyzed using STATA. The findings from this study are that while overall, student athletes represented in this data set are retained at a high rate, certain sub-groups may be at risk for attrition. Specifically, non-varsity athletes are less likely retained. Additionally, student athletes with a grade point average below a 3.0 or those who have been enrolled at an institution for less than five semesters are less likely to be retained. Black student athletes were found to be more likely to complete degrees and graduation was found to be positively influenced by financial aid in the form of work-study. Lastly, results of this research indicate the Return on Athletics® data initiative is a viable tool for analyzing factors that influence student athlete success. Based on the findings of this research, this paper includes recommendations for continued and improved Return on Athletics® data collection. Additionally, recommendations are provided for targeting student athlete success initiatives at specific sub-groups of the population who may be particularly at risk for retention issues. Finally, in an effort to build on this research and advance student athlete academic success, suggestions for future research are included. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

This research evaluated the efficiency and effectiveness of current recruitment policies and retention practices at Delaware Technical Community College, Jack F. Owens Campus in Georgetown, Delaware. Delaware Tech is a statewide community college with four campus locations with over 15,000 students and 155 student-athletes representing 1% of the overall student body population. Sponsored sports are baseball, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's cross country, golf, lacrosse, softball, and volleyball. National data highlights that student-athletes graduate at a higher rate than their student peers, but Delaware Tech data does not support that claim. The NCAA reported that the federal graduation rate for Division I student-athletes was 67% while the general student population was at 65% (Hosick, 2015). This paper analyzed the factors facing community college student-athletes with in depth interviews conducted to gather perceptions and feedback on experiences of student-athletes, staff, and high school athletic directors locally. Best practices and models from other higher education institutions were reviewed along with significant research conducted to understand the factors and implications that community college student-athletes face. Results indicated that while Delaware Tech has excelled in increasing graduation and retention rates for the overall student body, student-athletes have not fared as well. Recommendations are proposed to improve the likelihood of student-athletes in graduating through a strategic recruitment and enrollment plan and to increase retention through effective student focused strategies for statewide implementation at Delaware Technical Community College. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

This study proposes several causes that may explain why NCAA Division I athletes graduate at a lower rate than regular students. The main tradeoff that I examine in this paper is how the academic quality of a school affects student-athletes’ chances of succeeding relative to the rest of the student body. We pinpoint the underlying causes of this graduation gap between regular students and student-athletes, leading us to suggest policies to improve the future academic success of NCAA athletes.

BACKGROUND: Although concussion and sport-related traumatic brain injury is being acknowledged as a major public issue, especially in professional football players, current study is mostly limited to retrospective studies and post-mortem autopsies. The purpose of this study is to identify a potential association between concussion and neurodegenerative disease in athletes, and propose a prospective approach of studying concussion and its effect. METHODS: A total of 26 studies related to concussion in athletes and published after January 2000 were collected from PubMed and Google Scholar. More recent papers with higher citation counts were given the priority. RESULTS: Retired professional football players showed five times greater risk for mild cognitive impairment, three times greater risk for memory loss, and four times greater risk for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and Alzheimer disease. Autopsy results from football players also revealed findings consistent with chronic traumatic encephalopathy. Population with the Apolipoprotein E (APOE) promoter G-219T TT (Thymine-Thymine) genotype showed increased susceptibility for concussion. CONCLUSION: This study revealed that a history of concussion has statistically significant associations with high incidence of neurodegenerative diseases in professional athletes. In addition, the results suggest the 2-(1-{6-[(2-[F-18]fluoroethyl)(methyl)amino]-2-naphthyl}ethylidene)malononitril(FDDNP)-positron emission tomography tau binding patterns and the APOE promoter G-219T TT genotype provide a new approach to study and monitor the progression of neurodegenerative conditions in athletes.