Context: Work-family conflict (WFC) involves discord that arises when the demands of work interfere with the demands of family or home life. Long work hours, minimal control over work schedules, and time spent away from home are antecedents to WFC. To date, few authors have examined work-family conflict within the athletic training profession.Objective: To investigate the occurrence of WFC in certified athletic trainers (ATs) and to identify roots and factors leading to quality-of-life issues for ATs working in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I-A setting.Design: Survey questionnaire and follow-up, in-depth, inperson interviews.Setting: Division I-A universities sponsoring football. Patients or Other Participants: A total of 587 ATs (324 men, 263 women) responded to the questionnaire. Twelve ATs (6 men, 6 women) participated in the qualitative portion: 2 head ATs, 4 assistant ATs, 4 graduate assistant ATs, and 2 AT program directors.Data Collection and Analysis: Multiple regression analysis was performed to determine whether workload and travel predicted levels of WFC. Analyses of variance were calculated to investigate differences among the factors of sex, marital status, and family status. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and then analyzed using computer software as well as member checks and peer debriefing. The triangulation of the data collection and multiple sources of qualitative analysis were utilized to limit potential researcher prejudices.Results: Regression analyses revealed that long work hours and travel directly contributed to WFC. In addition to long hours and travel, inflexible work schedules and staffing patterns were discussed by the interview participants as antecedents to WFC. Regardless of sex (P 5 .142), marital status (P 5 .687), family status (P 5 .055), or age of children (P 5 .633), WFC affected Division I-A ATs.Conclusions: No matter their marital or family status, ATs employed at the Division I-A level experienced difficulties balancing their work and home lives. Sources of conflict primarily stemmed from the consuming nature of the profession, travel, inflexible work schedules, and lack of full-time staff members.Key Words: work load, job responsibilities, quality of life Key PointsN Factors contributing to the work-family conflict experienced by Division I-A athletic trainers included long working hours, required travel, inadequate staffing, and lack of control over work schedules.N Regardless of sex or marital or family status, athletic trainers struggled to find sufficient time for themselves and their nonwork obligations.

Context: Previous researchers have shown that work-family conflict (WFC) affects the level of a person's job satisfaction, life satisfaction, and job burnout and intentions to leave the profession. However, WFC and its consequences have not yet been fully investigated among certified athletic trainers.Objective: To investigate the relationship between WFC and various outcome variables among certified athletic trainers working in National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I-A settings.Design: A mixed-methods design using a 53-item survey questionnaire and follow-up in-depth interviews was used to examine the prevalence of WFC.Setting: Division I-A universities sponsoring football. Patients or Other Participants: A total of 587 athletic trainers (324 men, 263 women) responded to the questionnaire, and 12 (6 men, 6 women) participated in the qualitative portion of the mixed-methods study.Data Collection and Analysis: We calculated Pearson correlations to determine the relationship between WFC and job satisfaction, life satisfaction, and job burnout. Regression analyses were run to determine whether WFC was a predictor of job satisfaction, job burnout, or intention to leave the profession. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and then analyzed using the computer program N6 as well as member checks and peer debriefing.Results: Negative relationships were found between WFC and job satisfaction (r 5 2.52, P , .001). Positive were noted between WFC and job burnout (r 5 .63, P , .001) and intention to leave the profession (r 5 .46, P , .001). Regression analyses revealed that WFC directly contributed to job satisfaction (P , .001), job burnout (P , .001), and intention to leave the profession (P , .001).Conclusions: Overall, our findings concur with those of previous researchers on WFC and its negative relationships to job satisfaction and life satisfaction and positive relationship to job burnout and intention to leave an organization. Sources of WFC, such as time, inflexible work schedules, and inadequate staffing, were also related to job burnout and job dissatisfaction in this population.Key Words: burnout, attrition Key PointsN In these Division I-A athletic trainers, work-family conflict was inversely related to job satisfaction. Positive correlations were noted between work-family conflict and job burnout and work-family conflict and intention to leave the profession.N Our findings are similar to those of other researchers studying work-family conflict in a variety of populations. N Future investigators should focus on identifying successful strategies for mitigating the occurrence of work-family conflict and its negative consequences.

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As numerous qualified women exit the workforce because of the challenges of balancing work and family, investigations of the work–family interface have become increasingly important. Research has indicated how multilevel factors (i.e., individual, organizational, and sociocultural) play a role in work–family conflict. Little research has examined these factors in relation to each other, however. In sport management, Dixon and Bruening (2005) argued that higher level factors (sociocultural and organizational) shape and constrain lower level behaviors (organizational and individual), which ultimately influence the perception and consequences of work–family conflict. The primary purpose of this investigation is to test and further develop Dixon and Bruening’s multilevel framework. The current study used online focus groups for data collection from 41 National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I female head coaches with children to examine the factors that impacted work–family conflict from a top-down perspective. The results illuminated the experiences of the coaching mothers and the factors that affected their job and life satisfaction at each of the three levels. Particular attention was paid to how higher level factors such as work climate and culture shaped and constrained lower level attitudes and behaviors such as individual conflict and time management. These relationships highlighted how individual attitudes and behaviors reflect larger structural and social forces at work, and not simply individual choices.

Social cognitive career theory is used to investigate student intentions to enter the sport and leisure industry. Data are gathered from 197 undergraduate students from four universities located across the United States. Path analysis supports the general model, as self-efficacy and outcomes expectations hold positive associations with vocational interests, which in turn are positively related to choice goals. Self-efficacy is also positively associated with outcomes expectations. Additionally, through comparison of competing models, support is garnered for the effects of supports (i.e., human and social capital) and barriers (i.e., discrimination and lack of advancement opportunities) to be manifested on self-efficacy. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.