Keith P. Henschen

A Comparison of the Psychological Characteristics of Male and Female Able-bodied and Wheelchair Athletes

The purpose of this study was to compare selected psychological characteristics between male and female able-bodied and wheelchair athletes. All subjects completed the Profile of Mood States (POMS). Morgan (1980) has reported that based on the POMS elite able-bodied male and female athletes possess superior mental and emotional health compared to the general population. Based on this investigation, this result can now be extended to male and female wheelchair athletes.

The challenge of consulting with track and field athletes at the Olympic Games.

Abstract The authors of this article served as sport psychology consultants for the 2000 USA Olympic track and field team that competed in Sydney, Australia. In this capacity they provided sport psychology services for the staff (coaches and managers) and athletes of the team not only during the Olympics but throughout the quadrennium (1997–2000) that preceded the Games. This article provides both an overview and the practical applications of various aspects of the service delivery framework that was utilized during this period, including research foundations; coping with physical bankruptcy, illness, and injury; drug testing; staff stress and strain; and mental skills training/interventions for elite track and field athletes. The article is presented in a case report format that illustrates the application of sport psychology strategies, techniques, and services to a variety of performance issues and circumstances that emerged during the track and field competition of the 2000 Olympic Games

Achievement Motivation and Sex-Role Orientation of High School Female Track and Field Athletes versus Nonathletes.

To investigate the differences between female high school track and field athletes (n = 67) and nonathletes (n = 67) on level of achievement motivation on Mehrabians Scale of Achieving Tendency and for sex-role orientation on the Bern Sex-role Inventory. Differences in achievement motivation between the athletes and nonathletes and among the four groups representing sex-role orientation were assessed by a 2 × 4 analysis of variance. Relationships among the dependent variables, namely, achievement motivation and scores on feminine, masculine, and androgynous scales of Berns inventory were calculated using Pearson coefficients. Female athletes exhibited significantly higher achievement motivation than did the nonathletic girls. Also, high achievement motivation was related to androgynous and masculine sex roles, while low achievement motivation was associated with feminine and undifferentiated sex-role orientations.

Use of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Visually Impaired Athletes

This report detailed the reliability of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory when the test statements were presented verbally and in the traditional manner to undergraduates, 19 men and 17 women, who were physical education majors. In the standardized manner subjects read the statements silently to themselves; in the other administration statements were read aloud. The inventory then was administered twice verbally to 15 elite visually impaired women athletes. Both the state and trait subscales of this inventory are reliable if presented across or within modalities. The inventory, when presented verbally, might be appropriately used by visually impaired athletes in psychological preparation prior to competition.

Reflections on the Psychological Preparation of the USA Ski and Snowboard Team for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games

This article explains the program in existence since the 1990s that has been used to prepare the USAs male alpine and USAs male Nordic Combined ski teams for international events including World Cup competitions, World Championships, and multiple Winter Olympic Games. The authors initially developed this program in the 1980s for use with Summer Olympic teams including track and field, womens gymnastics, and other Olympic sports. Philosophical components of service delivery will be explored as well as the range of services provided, problems encountered, and how these issues were handled. Also, special attention will be provided to explain how we aided athletes in the year immediately following the Vancouver Games in order to promote healthy transition during post Olympic years.