Dissertation
A GOOD COACH CAN CHANGE A GAME, A GREAT COACH CAN CHANGE A LIFE: THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN ATHLETICS STAFF AND ATHLETE PERCEPTIONS ON HELP-SEEKING
Washington State University
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Washington State University
07/2024
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7273/000006894
Abstract
This study investigated the relation between student-athlete perceptions of help-seeking and mental health awareness and athletics staff perceptions within their respective institutions in addition to examining the perceived barriers and facilitators that exist for both student-athletes and athletics staff members toward their respective willingness to utilize mental health services. This study had a sample of one hundred twenty-three (123) student-athletes, and thirty-seven (37) athletics staff members from two public, Division 1 universities. In the present study, the more barriers to help-seeking that student-athletes reported experiencing, the more likely they were to have negative attitudes toward psychological help-seeking. Additionally, in this sample, stigma related to mental health was among one of the biggest barriers to help-seeking behaviors that student-athletes reporting facing. For athletics staff members and student-athletes, having mental health clinicians within the athletics department and with a background in athletics appears to serve as a major facilitator to help-seeking. In addition, for student-athletes, understanding of where to go to receive mental health services and clear knowledge of mental health resources is related to more positive perceptions of utilizing them. Furthermore, the present study exemplified that the more student-athletes feel that their coaches/training staff openly discuss and support mental health, the more likely they will seek out mental health support if they need it; further, they may tend to have a more favorable view of the services in terms of satisfaction with resources and knowing how to access them. The more student-athletes endorsed that their coaches and training staff openly discuss and support mental health, the more they believed that their coaches and teammates cared about their well-being. These findings have meaningful implications for understanding how to approach psychoeducation of mental health resources to work towards reducing stigma, increasing satisfaction with resources and creating more perceptions of help-seeking.
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Details
- Title
- A GOOD COACH CAN CHANGE A GAME, A GREAT COACH CAN CHANGE A LIFE
- Creators
- Hannah F. Levy
- Contributors
- Chris T. Barry (Chair)Stephanie S Bauman (Committee Member)Tammy D Barry (Committee Member)
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- Department of Psychology
- Theses and Dissertations
- Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Washington State University
- Publisher
- Washington State University
- Number of pages
- 70
- Identifiers
- 99901152339001842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Dissertation