Evaluation of the NFHS Online Captains Leadership Course: Student Athletes' Views of Effectiveness.

Sport is viewed as an arena for positive life skill development, including leadership development. In 2015, the NFHS launched an online Captain's Leadership Training Course. The main purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of the course in improving leadership knowledge and ability. An electronic survey was sent to a sample of athletes (n = 202, 129 female), ages 13-19 (M = 17.01, SD = 0.10) in eight United States states who had completed the NFHS course within the last 3-18 months. Most athletes (92.6%) completed the course based upon their coach's recommendation. The course was viewed to be moderately to very useful (M = 2.49, SD = 1.00) in helping them in preparing to be a team captain. Participants believed the course to be very to extremely effective in building their knowledge on motivation (M = 1.96, SD = 0.89), communication (M = 1.90, SD = 0.80), decision making (M = 2.03, SD = 0.91), peer modeling (M = 1.91, SD = 0.86), team cohesion (M = 1.96, SD = 0.88) and problem solving strategies (M = 2.00, SD = 0.85). Canonical correlation analyses showed that athletes who felt they were more reflective tended to rate the effectiveness of the course lower than their peers. Additionally, analyses did not show any clear demographic characteristics that distinguished between perceptions of the effectiveness of the course, showing the value found in the course was high with all types of scholastic athletes. Athletes felt the course could be improved most in the area of learning how to manage conflict with their peers and coaches. Future research in scholastic leadership should seek to understand the impact of the course prospectively across a high school sport season.

Psychological Strategies During Military Training Are Linked to Resilience in US Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal Operators.

PURPOSE: We describe the psychological strategies (PS) used by a specialized military population, US Navy explosive ordnance disposal (EOD), during training and military operations. We also aim to establish the relationship between PS and resilience. METHODS: The Test of Performance Strategies was adapted to the military environment and subsequently was administered to 58 EOD Operators in conjunction with the 10-item Connor- Davidson Resilience Scale. Differences between high- and low-resilience Operators for PS were evaluated with discriminant models. RESULTS: The PS of EOD Operators were comparable to those of Olympic athletes described in our prior study. The most frequently used strategies during training and military operations were goal setting and emotional control. Discriminant analysis indicated an overall difference between high- and low-resilience Operators with respect to the six training subscales (ρ < .05), with goal setting, emotional control, and attentional control contributing most to the discriminant function. CONCLUSION: EOD Operators' use of PS was comparable to that of elite athletes. We provide evidence that more-resilient EOD Operators differ from their less resilient counterparts in the strategies they use. These findings have implications for mental preparation strategies used during military training and operations.

An evaluation of an educational intervention in psychology of injury for athletic training students.

CONTEXT: "Psychosocial Intervention and Referral" is 1 of the 12 content areas in athletic training education programs, but knowledge gained and skill usage after an educational intervention in this area have never been evaluated. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effectiveness of an educational intervention in increasing psychology-of-injury knowledge and skill usage in athletic training students (ATSs). DESIGN: Observational study. SETTING: An accredited athletic training education program at a large Midwestern university. PATIENTS OR OTHER PARTICIPANTS: Participants included 26 ATSs divided into 2 groups: intervention group (4 men, 7 women; age = 21.4 +/- 0.67 years, grade point average = 3.37) and control group (7 men, 8 women; age = 21.5 +/- 3.8 years, grade point average = 3.27). DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: All participants completed the Applied Sport Psychology for Athletic Trainers educational intervention. Psychology-of-injury knowledge tests and skill usage surveys were administered to all participants at the following intervals: baseline, intervention week 3, and intervention week 6. Retention tests were administered to intervention-group participants at 7 and 14 weeks after intervention. Analysis techniques included mixed-model analysis of variance (ANOVA) and repeated-measures ANOVA. RESULTS: The Applied Sport Psychology for Athletic Trainers educational intervention effectively increased psychology-of-injury knowledge (29-point increase from baseline to intervention week 6; F(2,23) = 29.358, P < .001, eta(p) (2) = 0.719) and skill usage (50-point increase from baseline to intervention week 6; F(2,23) = 5.999, P = .008, eta(p) (2) = 0.343) in undergraduate ATSs. These increases were maintained at the 7-week and 14-week retention testing (P < .001 for both). CONCLUSIONS: This first attempt at evaluating an educational intervention designed to improve ATSs' knowledge and skill usage revealed that the intervention was effective. Although both knowledge and skill usage scores decreased by the end of the retention period, the scores were still higher than baseline scores, indicating that the intervention was effective.