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Prevalence of mental health (MH) concerns among young adults is high and continues to increase. As a specific subset of young adults, National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) athletes seem to experience these concerns at a similar or greater prevalence rate than their nonathlete, age-matched peers. Yet, how MH affects sport performance has not been robustly studied, and existing studies have not included the diversity of identities present in the collegiate athlete population. Thus, via online survey, this study explored the beliefs of 249 collegiate athletes representing diverse identities and sports regarding how MH affects sport performance. Regardless of demographic variable, 96.4%–100.0% of participants believed that MH affects sport performance. Three themes were identified: (a) collegiate athletes affirm that MH affects sport performance, (b) collegiate athletes' perceptions of how MH affects sport performance, and (c) collegiate athletes believe that being a collegiate athlete exacerbates their MH concerns. The universality of endorsement and the themes represent novel findings that warrant further exploration of the MH–sport performance connection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Key governing bodies (e.g., Association for Applied Sport Psychology) recognize that graduate programs must prepare multiculturally competent practitioners. Students and recent graduates of sport psychology master's degree programs (N = 107, Mage = 26.32, SD = 5.19) reported moderate levels of feeling safe, valued, and comfortable within their program; low to moderate levels of multicultural training integration; and low to moderate satisfaction with their multicultural training. Students of Color (n = 42) compared to White students (n = 63) reported less satisfaction with their multicultural training; felt less safe, comfortable, and valued; and perceived less multicultural integration. Furthermore, perceptions of multicultural training integration and of feeling safe, comfortable, and valued were significantly related to satisfaction with their multicultural training. Training programs are advised to improve integration of multicultural training, invest in program climate to help students feel safe and valued, and ensure continuing education of faculty members. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coaches' knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs about mental health—or mental health literacy (MHL)—affect teams' mental health climates and the detection, referral, and treatment of athletes' mental health concerns. Thus, assessing collegiate coaches' MHL, and factors related to its presence, is critical. Using the Mental Health Literacy Scale, 1,571 NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) coaches were surveyed regarding their MHL and demographic and mental health experience factors. Overall, 99.9% of the coaches surveyed believe that athletes' mental health affected their sport performances. Through hierarchical regression analyses, coaches' exposure to mental health treatment, perceived helpfulness of mental health treatment, gender (i.e., woman), years coaching (i.e., fewer years), and current NCAA division (i.e., Division III) were significantly related to their MHL, explaining 15.5% of variance. However, coaches' race/ethnicity did not reach significance. Recommendations regarding increasing coaches' MHL and hiring appropriately trained and licensed mental health and sport psychology professionals are offered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given how COVID-19 had caused significant increases in collegiate athletes' psychological distress, we examined the extent to which such distress may have been ameliorated by the athletes' psychosocial resources (e.g., resilience). We used structural equation modeling to examine the direct and indirect relationships of resilience, self-compassion, and social support to women collegiate athletes' (N = 3,924; 81.2% White) psychological distress; athletes completed measures of these constructs from mid-April to mid-May 2020. Analyses revealed significant direct effects: More supported (β = −0.12 to −0.19), self-compassionate (β = −0.48 to −0.53), and resilient (β = −0.21 to −0.35) athletes experienced less psychological distress (R2 =.61–.65). Further, self-compassion and social support were related indirectly (and inversely) to psychological distress through higher levels of resilience. These psychosocial resources appear to have played a positive role in how athletes coped with the pandemic, being associated with less psychological distress. These findings have application beyond the pandemic, providing direction for how sport psychology professionals may assist athletes in maintaining their well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examined the experiences of 95 lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) music education majors, along with 39 heterosexual allies, who were student members of the Texas Music Educators Association. Participants addressed curricular practices and institutional factors that lend themselves to LGBTQ+ inclusion and safety among students, faculty, and staff. We collected data through an anonymous online survey, which included questions related to LGBTQ+ students' experiences in their programs and across campuses. Five students participated in follow-up interviews designed to provide more in-depth information about their classroom experiences and campus-level actions taken to promote systemic change. Through multivariate analyses, as well as content analysis of the qualitative data, we found that although preservice music teachers in Texas feel accepted and supported in their music teacher education programs, they are entering the field feeling underprepared to address LGBTQ+ issues and support students who identify as such.

Objective: To investigate demographics, sport type, athletic identity, and COVID-19 sport season cancelation in relation to alcohol consumption among college student athletes shortly after the pandemic emerged. Participants: College student athletes recruited from U.S. athletic departments. Methods: Survey data were collected from 5,915 college student athletes in April/May 2020. Results: Being female, Latinx, and in a relationship were associated with lower alcohol consumption. Among males, team sport participation was related to greater alcohol consumption. Among females, athletic identity was inversely related to drinking, which was moderated by sport type, such that alcohol consumption was lower as athletic identity strengthened in individual (vs. team) sport athletes. However, we did not find a relationship of COVID-19 sport season cancelation with drinking. Conclusions: Our gender-specific findings are novel and generalizable based on a large, national sample of college student athletes, and may inform strategies for alcohol consumption education among college team sport athletes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sport involvement may offer physical and psychological benefits to early adolescents beyond those accrued through physical activity (PA). Those benefits, though, may be moderated by gender. The purpose of this study was to examine these potential benefits in a middle school population. The sample consisted of 629 sixth graders enrolled in a physical education (PE) course. Students completed self-report measures on sport involvement, PA self-efficacy, and physical self-concept. During PE, students completed FitnessGram testing, which provided measurements of cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), muscular strength and flexibility, and body composition. MANCOVA analyses were used to examine the interaction between sport involvement and gender in relation to the psychological and physical outcomes. Multivariate analyses demonstrated no Sport x Gender interactions for any outcome; sport involvement, however, was related significantly to improvements in CRF, muscular strength, PA self-efficacy, and physical self-concept (aerobic endurance and muscular strength). The findings suggest that sport involvement, above what may be attained through standardized, school-based PE experiences, uniquely provides physical and psychological benefits for early adolescents.

College student athletes face unique, sport-related stressors that may lead to, or exacerbate, mental health (MH) concerns and symptoms. Although the National Collegiate Athletic Association has identified MH screening as a best practice, minimal data exist regarding contemporary screening practices. We explored National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I (DI), Division II (DII), and Division III (DIII) athletic departments' current MH screening practices (N = 264). Compared with DII/DIII (53%), a greater percentage of Division I (89%) conducted formal MH screening. At DII/DIII institutions, athletic trainers were more likely to both administer and review screeners than any other sports medicine professional; sport psychologists primarily oversaw these tasks at DI schools. DI, compared with DII/DIII, institutions were more likely to have had a student athlete attempt suicide (62% vs. 40%) and participate in inpatient treatment (69% vs. 43%). There is a clear need for the National Collegiate Athletic Association to continue to promote policies that support MH screening and to create mechanisms in which it can monitor institutional involvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although teamwork behaviors would be expected to emerge from coach-created task-involving climates, no study has focused on this connection. Thus, we surveyed female National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I athletes (N = 536) on their perceptions of motivational climates created by their head coaches (i.e., 33-item Perceived Motivational Climate in Sport Questionnaire) and their beliefs about their team's teamwork behaviors (i.e., 19-item Multidimensional Assessment of Teamwork in Sport—Short Form). Cluster analyses revealed three groupings of coach-created climates: low task/high ego (n = 125), moderate task/moderate ego (n = 286), and high task/low ego (n = 125). Through a series of multivariate analyses of variance, with post hoc discriminant descriptive analysis, we found a significant main effect for the motivational climate clusters on teamwork behaviors. Athletes in the high-task/low-ego motivational climate cluster endorsed more teamwork behaviors (e.g., preparation, execution) than those in the moderate-task/moderate-ego and low-task/high-ego climate clusters. These findings suggest the importance of coach-created motivational climates in teamwork behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The onset of COVID-19 and cancellation of collegiate sports may have exacerbated student-athletes' psychological distress. Within a national sample of collegiate athletes (N = 5,755; 66.7% women), we determined how gender and race related to rates of depression, stress, and counseling use at the beginning of the pandemic (April/May 2020). Overall, 26.5% (n = 1,526) and 10.6% (n = 612) endorsed clinical levels of depression and stress, respectively; 25.1% (n = 1,443) and 69.7% (n = 4,014) reported subclinical levels. Few athletes (2.3%–17.1%) reported counseling use before or after the onset of COVID-19; those who did reported higher levels of depression and stress than those who never sought services. The female athletes reported higher rates of depression, stress, and counseling use than the male athletes. There were no race effects. Athletic departments must address their student-athletes' psychological distress by facilitating a higher use of mental health services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Guided by the biopsychosocial model, we examined (a) the prevalence of weight control behaviors (WCBs; i.e., trying to stay the same weight, lose weight, gain weight, or do nothing about weight) among early adolescent boys by race/ethnicity and grade level, and (b) how the boys' perceptions of sociocultural pressures (from parents, peers, and media) to lose weight, gain weight, exercise, and diet predicted their WCBs while accounting for body composition and grade level. Early adolescent boys (n = 508) in middle schools completed survey measures of WCB and sociocultural pressures and objective assessment of body mass index as body composition. Multinomial logistic regressions revealed that sixth graders were more likely than seventh and eighth graders to be trying to lose weight. Moreover, greater pressure to gain weight and lower pressure to exercise predicted a greater likelihood of trying to gain weight. The significant roles of grade levels and different sociocultural pressures in predicting WCBs suggest that health professionals and school staff should consider these factors when intervening with early adolescent boys.

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) established policies for the inclusion of transgender athletes to compete in collegiate sport that align with their gender identity. Despite this access, the extent to which collegiate sport environments are welcoming, inclusive and supportive of transgender athletes is unclear. Understanding coaches' perceptions and attitudes is particularly salient given the critical, and often personal, nature of coach–athlete relationships and the impact coaches have on sport environments [Kuhlin, F., Barker-Ruchti, N., & Stewart, C. (2020). Long-term impact of the coach–athlete relationship on development, health and wellbeing: stories from a figure skater. Sports Coaching Review, 9(2), 208–230; Stirling, A. E., & Kerr, G. A. (2013). The perceived effects of elite athletes' experiences of emotional abuse in the coach–athlete relationship. International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 11(1), 87–100]. NCAA coaches' perceptions of, and attitudes towards the inclusion of transgender athletes is unknown, and thus the degree to which coaches are creating safe, or harmful, environments for transgender athletes is unknown. The present study aims investigate coaches' perceptions to be able to inform policy and education for promoting inclusive, safe environments for transgender athletes. We asked NCAA coaches (N = 1358) to describe the reasoning for their beliefs regarding the inclusion of transgender athletes in collegiate sports. Through reflexive thematic analysis, we determined coaches' reasoning for their perceptions, within the context of five higher-order themes: (a) It's not right: Transgender identities as invalid, (b) A need to protect (cis) women's sports, (c) Transgender rights are human rights, (d) Sport's role in society and coaches' role in sport and (e) I am not sure what I believe. Analyses illuminate avenues for transgender athlete inclusion training for coaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Grit has almost exclusively been examined in relation to performance success. Achievement motivation theory (AMT) provides a framework to start examining psychosocial factors that may be associated with promoting grit. Thus, we examined the direct and indirect relationships from athletes' perceived motivational climate, implicit beliefs, and goal orientations to their grit levels. Collegiate student-athletes (N = 523; 47% men) completed self-report measures assessing these constructs. Through multilevel modelling, grit's perseverance of effort varied minimally at the team level and was only predicted by individuals' task orientation and incremental beliefs. Structural equation modelling supported our hypothesised, most parsimonious model with the direct and indirect relationships of a task-involving climate through athletes' incremental beliefs and task orientation explained 65% of their perseverance of effort scores. Perceptions of an ego-involving climate were related to athletes' entity beliefs and ego orientation; these three constructs were not significantly related to our grit outcome. Our findings suggest AMT may be useful to understand how athletes develop the ability to persevere over time. Practically, our results suggest the greater athletes' grit levels, as represented by perseverance of effort, the more likely they are to have task orientation and incremental beliefs, which can be promoted by a task-involving climate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sport involvement may offer physical and psychological benefits to early adolescents beyond those accrued through physical activity (PA). Those benefits, though, may be moderated by gender. The purpose of this study was to examine these potential benefits in a middle school population. The sample consisted of 629 sixth graders enrolled in a physical education (PE) course. Students completed self-report measures on sport involvement, PA self-efficacy, and physical self-concept. During PE, students completed FitnessGram testing, which provided measurements of cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), muscular strength and flexibility, and body composition. MANCOVA analyses were used to examine the interaction between sport involvement and gender in relation to the psychological and physical outcomes. Multivariate analyses demonstrated no Sport x Gender interactions for any outcome; sport involvement, however, was related significantly to improvements in CRF, muscular strength, PA self-efficacy, and physical self-concept (aerobic endurance and muscular strength). The findings suggest that sport involvement, above what may be attained through standardized, school-based PE experiences, uniquely provides physical and psychological benefits for early adolescents., For many children and adolescents, physical activity (PA) often occurs during their school physical education (PE) classes (Jago et al., 2009; Sallis et al., 2012). Despite that many U.S. students [...]

The current study replicated and extended previous research on disordered eating and dietary intent (i.e., self-reported restriction of caloric intake with the purpose of losing weight) in boys and men by examining the direct and indirect influence of sociocultural pressure, social body comparisons, internalization of societal appearance ideals, body dissatisfaction, self-esteem, body composition, and cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) on dietary restraint. Participants were 681 boys ( X-bar[subscript age] = 12.49 years, SD = 0.99) from six middle schools located in the south central United States. Using structural equation modeling (SEM), 32% to 35% of the Dietary Restraint variance was explained across two independent samples. Pressures to lose weight and diet predicted all the psychosocial outcomes, whereas higher levels of (CRF) predicted higher levels of body satisfaction and self-esteem and lower body mass indices (BMIs), which predicted lower dietary restraint. The results from this study support a multifactorial approach to understanding boys' dietary behaviors.

Low levels of body satisfaction have been consistently linked to disordered eating behaviors among women. However, few researchers have explored the mechanisms explaining this relationship among subgroups of women, who because of their social positioning (e.g., gender, race, and athlete status) may differ in the etiology of disordered eating. Accordingly, we surveyed 354 Black women student athletes (ages 18–24) to assess psychosocial health factors (resiliency, self-compassion, and social support) contributing to body satisfaction and disordered eating among this group. First, through a frequency analysis we determined approximately 50–60% of Black women student athletes reported being satisfied with their bodies, particularly with the muscularity and overall size and shape of their bodies. Second, a structural equation model supported the hypothesis that higher levels of self-compassion and social support contributed to greater body satisfaction, which, in turn, predicted athletes reporting fewer disordered eating behaviors. Our results suggest that body satisfaction is multidimensional, and there are specific psychosocial health factors that may bolster body satisfaction and protect against disordered eating among Black women student athletes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Adolescence is a critical time for the development of psychological well-being. Weight gain and the emergence of body image concerns during this period can lead to the development of negative psychological states. To explore this issue, we examined the relationship between weight control behavior (WCB; i.e., trying to lose, gain, stay the same, or do nothing about weight) and levels of depression and self-esteem. Methods: Adolescents (508 boys, 502 girls; M[subscript age] = 12.32 ± 0.88 years) completed a survey that assessed WCB, depression, and self-esteem. Descriptive discriminant analysis was used to analyze WCB group differences on psychological well-being. Multivariate post hoc analysis further examined group differences. Structure coefficients indicated the relative importance of each dependent variable in boys and girls. Results: Results indicated that, among both sexes, WCB was significantly related to depression and self-esteem. Individuals trying to lose weight had lower levels of psychological well-being than the other groups. Conclusions: Adolescents trying to lose weight reported the lowest psychological well-being scores whereas those not doing anything to control weight reported the highest levels of psychological well-being. These findings have important implications for screening and education programs designed to monitor and support adolescent psychological well-being.

We examined the influence of physical and psychosocial variables on math and reading achievement test scores. Between 1 and 5 months prior to taking annual standardized reading and math tests, a sample of (N = 1,211) sixth through eight graders (53.7% girls; 57.2% White) self-reported levels of physical activity, academic self-beliefs, general self-esteem, and social support and participated in objective testing to obtain measures of body composition (body mass index [BMI]) and cardiorespiratory fitness. Socioeconomic status (SES) and state-based reading and math achievement test scores were provided by the school district. Regression analyses revealed that SES, academic self-beliefs, and cardiorespiratory fitness were the consistent predictors of the students' performance in reading and math; perceived social support from family and friends and higher levels of self-esteem were related to higher reading scores for the boys only. Our findings support schools re-examining policies that have limited students' involvement in physical education classes.

Time and access to teams may be limited for sport psychology professionals, particularly those working in the college sport setting. Thus, learning how to intervene with teams and individual athletes within short, defined timeframes becomes essential for working effectively in this environment. In this article, using de Shazer's solution-focused brief therapy along with Weinberg and Williams's steps of psychological skills training, the authors describe the development and implementation of a brief intervention under time-limited circumstances (15 days, 15 min/day) through a preseason training program with a National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I women's volleyball team. Then, they present data and evaluations based on the Athletic Coping Skills Inventory-28 and athlete feedback, which support program effectiveness. They further reflect on the program strengths (e.g., individualization) and challenges (e.g., limited coach involvement) to provide recommendations for intervening briefly, yet systematically and effectively, to maximize athletes' psychological skills under constraints. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Approximately 1 in 5 student-athletes experience some type of mental health concern. However, fewer than half of student-athletes who report mental health concerns seek mental health treatment (ie, psychotherapy or medication). Data concerning barriers to student-athletes seeking mental health care are limited but suggest that stigma is the primary reason. Further, whether having shared identities with their sport psychologists (eg, race and gender) encourages student-athletes to seek help has been minimally explored. To determine the frequency of internal and external barriers to athletes seeking mental health care and examine the importance of athletes and sport psychologists sharing identities as a facilitator of seeking help. Cross-sectional study. Collegiate athletics. A total of 266 student-athletes (53.8% women, 42.5% White) from a National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I university. Student-athletes responded to 9 binary (yes or no) prompts related to internal barriers (eg, beliefs and attitudes about mental health) and 7 reflecting external barriers (ie, different stakeholders, such as the head coach). Regarding facilitators of mental health help-seeking, student-athletes rated how important it was for them to share each of 10 identities with their sport psychologist from 1 (not at all important) to 5 (extremely important). All identified barriers and facilitators were derived from existing research. Differences were found in athletes' ratings of internal and external barriers. For example, a belief in one's own reliance and not having enough time were significant barriers, as was their head coach having a negative attitude about the importance of mental health. Female student-athletes rated sharing a gender identity with their sport psychologist as more important than did male student-athletes. Despite efforts by the National Collegiate Athletic Association to reduce the stigma surrounding mental health, persisting barriers within collegiate sports may keep athletes from seeking help. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sport psychology (SP) is an academic discipline and a profession that has evolved over the years fromresearch grounded within motor learning and development (Gardner&Moore, 2006) to the application of psychological skills and principles to enhance athletes' and teams' sport performances (Williams & Straub, 1998). Because of the growing impact that athletes' psychological well-being may have on skill development and performance (Beable et al., 2017; McGraw et al., 2018) and the recent emphasis on athlete mental health within sport organizations (Sport Science Institute, 2016), some sport psychologists have argued for a more integrative and holistic approach when working with athletes--one that is grounded in mental health and counseling/clinical psychology (Petrie&Harmison, 2012). With this growth, training in psychology--specifically in mental health assessment and treatment--is becoming necessary for ethical and competent SP practice, yet has not been studied inmore than 25 years (Petrie&Watkins, 1994b). To address this gap, we surveyed 52 of the 75 training directors, or their designates (TDoDs), of American Psychological Association (APA)-Accredited Counseling Psychology (CP) programs to obtain a contemporary view of students' and faculty's interests and involvement in SP research, practice, and graduate education (Petrie&Watkins, 1994b). Our data indicate that these interests and involvements have increased in the last 25 years despite similar limitations (e.g., lack of resources) and are highly acceptable across programs, yet theymay not be as feasible in programs without existing formal training opportunities for a variety of reasons. Further results and implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: To date, research has focused primarily on psychological correlates of weight-based teasing. In this study, we extended previous work by also examining physical health-related variables (eg, physical self-concept and physical fitness [PF]). Methods: Participants included 1419 middle school students (637 boys and 782 girls). Of these, 245 (17.3%) reported being teased about being overweight. Participants completed measures of self-esteem, depression, physical self-concept, physical activity (PA) self-efficacy, and self-report physical and sedentary activities. Participants also completed PF testing. Results: After controlling for demographic characteristics, participants who were teased about being overweight had higher scores on depression and lower scores on self-esteem, physical self-concept, PA self-efficacy, and health-related measures of PF in comparison to participants who were not teased. Conclusions: The results of this study support previous research indicating relationships between teasing and low levels of psychological well-being, physical self-concept, and PA self-efficacy, and establishes one between weight-based teasing and different types of PF. Research is needed to determine the potential causal nature of the relationships between teasing and fitness and evidence-based interventions are needed to reduce weight-based teasing and its potential effects on health and well-being.

Although researchers have examined eating disorders in female athletes, few such studies have been done with athletes who are retired, and even fewer have been quantitative. Thus, the authors empirically tested an established eating disorder theoretical model with 218 former NCAA Division-I female collegiate athletes who had been retired for 2-6 years. In retirement, participants completed measures of general sociocultural pressures related to body and appearance, thin-ideal internalization, body dissatisfaction, dietary restraint, negative affect, and bulimic symptomatology. Through structural equation modeling, the authors examined the direct and indirect relationships among the latent variables while controlling for body mass index and years since retirement. The model fit the data well, supporting the hypothesized direct and indirect relationships among the variables and explaining 54% of the variance in bulimic symptomatology. Despite no longer being exposed to sport pressures that contribute to eating disorders, female athletes experience such symptoms long into retirement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]