Judy L. Van Raalte

Self-Presentation and Exercise

Preliminary research indicates that self-presentation may be an important antecedent and consequence of physical activity because it may affect peoples exercise cognitions, attitudes, and behaviors. The specific purposes of this article were to review the literature on self-presentational processes with regard to (a) exercise behavior, (b) motivation to engage in physical activity, (c) the characteristics of the exercise environment, (d) subjective responses to acute exercise, and (e) the effects of exercise interventions on self-presentational concerns. Implications of a self-presentational perspective for examining exercise adherence and developing physical activity interventions are discussed.

A Life Skills Development Program for High School Student-Athletes

Sport and after school activities have been identified as fertile ground for adolescents to develop initiative and feelings of self-efficacy. The purpose of this article is to describe the development and implementation of a national intervention program that uses sport participation as a vehicle to enhance life skill development in urban youth. Evaluation data are provided and some potential advantages of using sport and after-school activities to promote social competence are discussed.

Sport psychology service delivery: staying ethical while keeping loose.

Although the parent discipline of sport psychology is psychology, the delivery of sport psychology services has its main roots in physical education and sports science (motor learning and control, skill acquisition). Thus, sport psychologists may look more like coaches than they look like clinicians or counselors. In this article, the authors trace the evolution of sport psychology services and contrast the temporal, spatial, and delivery issues of applied sport psychology with more mainstream counseling and clinical psychology. The looser boundaries of sport psychologist practice have both benefits and dangers, and the authors offer some examples to professional psychologists who are thinking of expanding their delivery of service to athletes and coaches.

Prevalence of psychological distress among patients at a physical therapy clinic specializing in sports medicine

To assess the frequency with which patients at an orthopedic physical therapy clinic specializing in sports medicine experience clinically meaningful psychological distress, 200 consecutive patients were administered a standardized measure of psychopathology. Patients varied in terms of diagnosis, stage of rehabilitation, and level of athletic involvement. The physical therapist and athletic trainer responsible for the rehabilitation of a patient rated a patients behavior during rehabilitation sessions. Approximately 19% of patients reported a clinical level of psychological distress. Most patients demonstrated few overt signs of a maladaptive psychological response to injury. The physical therapist or athletic trainer rating was not significantly correlated with a patients self‐reported psychological distress. It was concluded that psychological distress occurs infrequently among patients at a sports medicine clinic, but with sufficient regularity to warrant concern.

Attributions for recovery and adherence to rehabilitation following anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction: A prospective analysis

Abstract The relationship between causal attributions for recovery and adherence was examined in a sample of 80 individuals (25 females and 55 males) undergoing rehabilitation following anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction. Participants estimated their speed of recovery and then rated their open-ended attributions for recovery on the Revised Causal Dimension Scale (McAuley, Duncan and Russell, 1992). Adherence was assessed in terms of attendance at rehabilitation sessions and practitioner ratings for the remainder of the rehabilitation period. Participants who perceived themselves as recovering rapidly attributed their recovery to more stable and personally controllable factors than participants who perceived themselves as recovering slowly. Causal dimension ratings predicted attendance at rehabilitation sessions, but not practitioner ratings of adherence. The results, which further demonstrate the relevance of causal attributions to health behavior, are compared with previous cross-sectional findings.

When Sport psychology consultants and graduate students are impaired: Ethical and legal issues in training and supervision

Abstract Impaired sport psychology consultants, that is, professionals and graduate students whose behavior, inadequate training, personal situations, or psychopathology are having a negative influence on the delivery of services, have the potential to do harm to athlete-clients, damage their own professional standing, and bring disrepute to the field. The applied sport psychology literature is replete with guidelines and suggestions for referring athletes for counseling or psychotherapy when appropriate (e.g., Heyman & Andersen, 1998), but the ethical, legal, and procedural problems associated with sport psychology consultants whose training or mental conditions suggest the need for remediation, rehabilitation, or psychotherapy, and possible removal from seeing clients, has not been addressed. We describe a variety of situations where student and professional functioning might be impaired, discuss the possible ramifications (legal, ethical) of impairment, and provide suggestions for ways to proceed when sport psychology consultants are in psychological difficulty.

Disorders of personality and mood in athletes: Recognition and referral

Abstract In the applied sport psychology literature, there has been discussion of the importance of referring clients to the appropriate expert when circumstances warrant. The present paper addresses the recognition and referral of athletes with personality and mood disorders. This paper describes some of these disorders as they may appear in athletes, along with key recognition signs, diagnostic criteria, case examples, and guidelines for referral. Careful training of sport psychology consultants in the recognition and referral of athletes with psychopathology will help expand and improve the quality of service delivered to clients.

Ethical beliefs and behaviors in applied sport psychology: The AAASP ethics survey

Abstract AAASP members (N = 508) were surveyed to obtain preliminary data on ethical beliefs and behaviors specific to the practice of applied sport psychology. Completed surveys were received from 165 individuals. On the structured response portion of the survey, there were few differences in ethical beliefs and behaviors as a function of gender, professional/student status, and academic discipline. Nevertheless, a large number of controversial behaviors (N = 24) and difficult judgments (N = 8) were identified. Results of the open-ended portion of the survey indicated that most of the questionable ethical practices cited by respondents corresponded to violations of American Psychological Association (APA) Ethical Standards. The findings lend initial support for AAASP to adopt the APA Ethical Standards and suggest the need for ethics training specific to applied sport psychology.

Predictors of Adherence to Home Rehabilitation Exercises Following Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction

OBJECTIVE Although home exercises are commonly prescribed following anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction and are considered important in obtaining successful rehabilitation outcomes, little is known about factors associated with the completion of such exercises. Consequently, this study was designed to identify predictors of adherence to home rehabilitation exercises after ACL surgery. METHOD Participants (33 women, 58 men) completed indices of athletic identity, neuroticism, optimism, and pessimism before ACL surgery and measures of daily pain, negative mood, stress, and home exercise completion for 42 days postoperatively. RESULTS Participants reported a high level of adherence to the prescribed regimen. Home exercise completion increased significantly over time as the number of sets of prescribed home exercises declined. Personal factors were not predictive of home exercise completion. Participants completed fewer home exercises on days when they experienced more stress or negative mood. CONCLUSIONS Day-to-day variations in negative mood and stress may contribute to adherence to prescribed home exercises.

Athletic Identity and Student Involvement of Female Athletes at NCAA Division III Women's and Coeducational Colleges

Over the last 40 years, coeducation has widely replaced single-sex education. The number of women’s colleges in the United States decreased from 268 in 1960 to 70 in 2002 (Women’s College Coalition, 2002). Smith (1990) determined that institutions were not convinced that women benefited from attending a single-sex school. The closing of women’s colleges was supported by the assumption that coeducation provides equitable education for men and women (Tidball, Smith, Tidball, & Wolf-Wendell, 1999). Researchers have demonstrated the opposite effects; not only do women’s colleges provide a more effective academic climate, but coeducation is potentially detrimental to the success of female students (Smith, Wolf, & Morrison, 1995). Student involvement in the academic and extracurricular domains has been cited repeatedly as a key factor differentiating the women’s and coeducational environments (Astin, 1977; Kim, 2001; Smith, 1990; Smith et al., 1995). Taking into consideration precollege traits and background demographics, Smith et al. found that attending a women’s college was positively associated with student involvement. Women’s colleges were found to offer and encourage opportunities for involvement to a greater extent than coeducational colleges. Attending a women’s college was also positively correlated with students’ perceptions of their institution as student-centered, which itself was a positive predictor of academic and extracurricular involvement (Smith et al.). Women’s colleges offer students a chance to interact with female role models in multiple academic fields (Tidball, 1976, 1980, 1986). Tidball et al. (1999) argued that students at women’s colleges are not only exposed to a culture that supports women pursuing any field they choose, but they also have professors who confirm that women are capable of doing so. When students perceive that their school is supportive of their education, they are more likely to increase their academic involvement by spending more time studying, conducting research, and interacting regularly with professors (Smith, 1990; Smith et al., 1995). Astin (1977) and Smith et al. have found that the academic involvement of the students at women’s colleges is significantly greater than that of the women on coeducational campuses. Similar results have been found when comparing the extracurricular involvement of women on these campuses (Astin, 1977; Kim, 2001; Smith et al., 1995). Astin found that students at women’s colleges are more likely to engage in artistic interests and political liberalism, attain positions of leadership,