Trent A. Petrie

Psychosocial Antecedents of Athletic Injury: The Effects of Life Stress and Social Support on Female Collegiate Gymnasts

The article presents information from two studies of a research program investigating psychosocial antecedents of athletic injury. Study 1 describes the development of the Life Events Survey for Collegiate Athletes (LESCA). The LESCA demonstrated good content validity and provided a stable measure of life stress. The LESCAs validity and the moderating effects of social support were explored in the second study. The LESCA provided a construct-valid measure of life stress and was a better predictor of athletic injury than the Social and Athletic Readjustment Rating Scale. Social support moderated the stress-injury relationship in such a way that LESCA negative life stress accounted for 11% to 22% of injury variances in low-support conditions; LESCA positive life stress accounted for 14% to 20% of injury variances in high-support conditions. Mechanisms underlying the stress-injury relationship and directions for future research are discussed with respect to the model outlined by M. B. Andersen and J. M. Williams in 1988.

Female Collegiate Athletes: Prevalence of Eating Disorders and Disordered Eating Behaviors.

Objective: The authors assessed the prevalence of pathogenic eating and weight-control behaviors among female college athletes, using a psychometrically valid measure. Participants: Participants were 204 college athletes (M age = 20.16 years, SD = 1.31 years) from 17 sports at 3 universities. On average, they participated in their sport for 10.88 years (SD = 16.68 years) and on their college team for 2.10 years (SD = 1.03 years). Methods: Participants completed a demographic and weight background questionnaire, Questionnaire for Eating Disorder Diagnoses, and the Bulimia Test-Revised. Results: The authors classified participants as eating disordered (n = 4, 2.0%), symptomatic (n = 52, 25.5%), and asymptomatic (n = 148, 72.5%). Few participants engaged in binge eating; most used exercise, as opposed to vomiting, dieting, laxatives, or diuretics, to control their weight. Conclusions: Female athletes suffer from eating disorders, and most experience symptom levels that are subclinical but problematic.

Factorial and Construct Validity of the Body Parts Satisfaction Scale-Revised: An Examination of Minority and Nonminority Women

In this two-part study, the psychometric properties of the Body Parts Satisfaction Scale, an extensively used body image attitudes measure, were tested. In Study 1-A, the two-factor structure of the Body Parts Satisfaction Scale-Revised (BPSS-R)—Satisfaction With Body and Satisfaction With Face—was established through exploratory procedures with a racially diverse sample of women (66.7% White American, 17.6% African American, 6.3% Mexican American, 5% Asian American, 0.6% Native American, and 3.8% unreported). In Study 1-B, the two-factors were validated through confirmatory procedures with a matched racially diverse sample of women (71.9% White American, 14.0% African American, 5.3% Mexican American, 4.7% Asian American, 1.2% Native American, and 2.9% unreported). Correlational analyses supported the construct and concurrent validity of the factors. To learn more about body image attitudes within racial/ethnic minorities, Study 2 examined the two-factor solution and psychometric properties in an independent sample of Mexican American women. Confirmatory factor analysis demonstrated that the two-factor solution fit the data, and correlations with other psychological and eating disorder measures supported the factors construct and concurrent validity. Further, the two factors were unrelated to a measure of acculturation and to generational level living in the U. S., which suggests that body satisfaction may be independent of the acculturation process.

Moderators of the Body Dissatisfaction-Eating Disorder Symptomatology Relationship: Replication and Extension.

In this study, research conducted by T. L. Tylka (2004) was replicated and extended by examining perfectionism (self-oriented and socially prescribed), ego goal orientation, body surveillance, and neuroticism as moderators of the relationship between body dissatisfaction and bulimic and anorexic symptomatology among female undergraduates (N = 398). Hierarchical moderated regression was used to test the main and interactive effects of the models and to control for physical size and social desirability. As expected, body dissatisfaction was strongly related to the measures of disordered eating, accounting for 16% to 26% of the variance. Two variables (neuroticism and body surveillance) received support as moderators of the relationships between body dissatisfaction and bulimic and anorexic symptoms. Ego goal orientation and socially prescribed perfectionism moderated the effects of body dissatisfaction on bulimic symptoms, whereas self-oriented perfectionism served as a moderator only for anorexic symptoms. In all instances, higher levels of body dissatisfaction paired with higher levels of the moderator were associated with more disturbed eating.

Body dissatisfaction, ethnic identity, and disordered eating among African American women.

Initial research suggested that only European American women developed eating disorders (Garner, 1993), yet recent studies have shown that African American women do experience them (e.g., Lester & Petrie, 1998b; Mulholland & Mintz, 2001) and also may be negatively affected by similar sociocultural variables. In this study, we examined a sociocultural model of eating disorders for African American women but included the influences of ethnic identity (e.g., Hall, 1995; Helms, 1990). Participants (N = 322) were drawn from 5 different universities. They completed measures representing ethnic identity, societal pressures regarding thinness, internalization of societal beauty ideals, body image concerns, and disordered eating. Structural equation modeling revealed that ethnic identity was inversely, and societal pressures regarding thinness directly, related to internalization of societal beauty ideals. Societal pressures regarding thinness was also related to greater body image concerns. Both internalization of societal beauty ideals and body image concerns were positively associated with disordered eating (R² = .79). Overall, the final model fit the data well, supporting its generalizability and the importance of ethnic identity in determining risk.

Differences between male and female college lean sport athletes, nonlean sport athletes, and nonathletes on behavioral and psychological indices of eating disorders

Abstract This study examined the relative frequency of behavioral and psychological indices of eating disorders in collegiate athletes and nonathletes. Participants were 230 male and 250 female nonathletes. and 187 male and 113 female varsity athletes. The male and female athletes were classified separately as either in a lean sport (i.e., where weight or appearance was central to success) or a nonlean sport and then compared with their nonathlete counterparts. After controlling for the effects of actual physical size, multivariate analyses revealed that (a) female athletes in lean sports were more weight preoccupied than nonlean sport female athletes and female nonathletes, (b) nonathletes, both male and female, expressed more dissatisfaction with their bodies than both of their respective athlete comparison groups, and (c) nonathletes, both male and female, felt less worthwhile and less effective in their lives than their respective genders nonlean sport athletes. These findings are discussed in terms ...

The moderating effects of social support and playing status on the life stress-injury relationship

Abstract This study prospectively investigated the moderating effects of social support and playing status (i.e., starter vs. non-starter) on the life stress-iqiury relationship in collegiate football players. Playing status moderated the utility of life stress and social support as predictors of athletic injury. For starters, subjective satisfaction with social support moderated the negative life stress-injury relationship. Spacifidly, increases in negative life stress and subjective satisfaction with social support were associated with dcmeases in number of severe injuries, games missed, and time loss due to injury. No stress-injury relationships emerged for non-starters. Implications for future research are discussed.

Issues in training effective supervisors

Abstract While increased attention has been focused on the topic of clinical supervision, most of the theoretical writing and empirical research to date has emphasized issues pertaining to the supervisee. As a result, the role of the supervisor in the supervisory dyad has received relatively little attention in spite of its critical function in the supervisory process. This article examines the literature on supervisor training and development. Specifically, four topic areas are reviewed: (a) characteristics of the “ideal” supervisor, (b) theories of supervisor development, (c) ethical and professional issues, and (d) recommendations for supervisor training.

Physical, psychological, and societal correlates of bulimic symptomatology among African American college women.

Although eating disorders have been the focus of considerable research, African American women generally have been overlooked, despite recent investigations indicating they also are at risk. In this study, the authors examined physical, psychological, and societal correlates of bulimic symptomatology in African American college women. Regression analysis revealed that body mass, body dissatisfaction, and low self-esteem were significantly related to bulimic symptomatology, accounting for 29% of the variance. Internalization of U.S. societal beliefs about attractiveness, level of identification with White culture, and level of depression, however, were not significant predictors of bulimic symptoms in the regression equation. The findings are discussed in the context of sociocultural approaches to understanding eating disorders. Implications for counseling interventions as well as directions for future research are provided.

Social physique anxiety and disordered eating: what’s the connection?

Social physique anxiety (SPA) is highly correlated with other body image measures that have been considered to be important in understanding eating disorders. However, SPA has not been directly studied with respect to eating disorders. Thus, the purpose of this investigation was to examine the link between SPA and measures of eating disorder symptomatology to determine if SPA should be considered as an additional risk factor in the prediction of eating disturbances. One hundred and sixty female undergraduates completed questionnaires measuring body mass index (BMI), social physique anxiety (SPAS), anorexic symptoms (EAT), bulimic symptoms (BULIT-R), depression (CES-D), self-esteem (SES) and obligatory exercise (OEQ). Regression analyses revealed that SPA and depression were the psychological correlates that predicted bulimic symptomatology and that SPA, depression, and obligatory exercise predicted anorexic symptomatology; all variables were positively related to eating disorder symptoms. Overall, the results indicate that social physique anxiety appears to be a useful construct for understanding eating disorder symptoms in female undergraduates.