Injury, an unavoidable part of sport, is often accompanied by negative psychological reactions. This reaction may have a negative influence on an athlete's experience of injury and rehabilitation. Findings suggest that perceptions of social support provided by ATCs have the greatest influence on injured athletes' rehabilitation and well-being.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether a theory-based framework could be used to deductively identify and understand the characteristics of motivational leaders of physical activity groups for older adults. Participants were 23 older adults (mean age = 78.5 ± 8.0 years, 65% women). An interviewguide approach was employed to elicit older adults' thoughts on important characteristics of physical activity group leaders. The data suggested that effective leaders are those whom the participants feel are properly qualified, are able to develop a personal bond with participants, and can use their knowledge and the group to demonstrate collective accomplishments. It was concluded that the findings could be used to extend the leadership activities beyond the traditional technical performance and individual feedback to include activities of social integration. Furthermore, the conceptual framework identified can serve as a valuable tool in guiding future researchers in their examination of leadership in physical activity groups for older adults.

Athletes use imagery for both cognitive and motivational functions (Paivio 1985). The cognitive function involves the rehearsal of skills (cognitive specific) and strategies of play (cognitive general). To date most of the imagery research has been concerned with skill rehearsal (cognitive specific), and there have been no controlled studies investigating the effects of cognitive general imagery on the learning and performance of game plans or strategies of play. The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of a cognitive general imagery intervention on three distinct soccer strategies in a young elite female soccer team. Participants were 13 competitive female soccer players with a mean age of 12.54 years. Imagery scores were determined via the Sport Imagery Questionnaire (SIQ; Hall, Mack, Paivio, & Hausenblas, 1998) prior to, during, and after the intervention. A staggered multiple baseline design across behaviors was used to evaluate the effect of imagery on three distinct soccer strategies (defending a direct free kick, taking a direct free kick, and defending a corner kick) which were introduced at weeks 2, 4 and 6. Results indicated that cognitive general and cognitive specific imagery use as well as motivational general-arousal imagery use significantly increased from baseline to post intervention. Based on the present study's findings, the execution of soccer strategies was not significantly enhanced with the implementation of a cognitive general intervention. Additional research should be conducted in order to reach clearer conclusions that will have implications for young athletes and their learning strategies.

The current study’s primary purpose was to determine the impact of a sport psychology workshop on athletic training students’ sport psychology behaviors. Using a quasi-experimental research design, partial randomization was used to assign athletic training students (n = 160) to a treatment group or control group. A 2 × 2 repeated measures MANOVA revealed a significant multivariate effect for Group x Time interaction [Wilks’s Λ = .22, F (5, 154) = 1, p < .001, η2 = .77]. Follow up ANOVAs revealed significant interactions for all sport psychology behaviors (allp < .01) except referring an injured athlete to a sport psychologist. Results from the current study revealed that members of the experimental group reported a significant increase in their use of total sport psychology behaviors at the six week follow-up when compared with those in the control group. Such increases highlight the need for increased exposure of athletic training students to sport psychology. Given the potential benefits that could be derived from the incorporation of sport psychology skills and techniques into injury rehabilitation by athletic training students’, the assertion that injured athletes’ physical rehabilitation could be enhanced with the incorporation of psychological skills and techniques appears to be supported.

This study used a consumer marketing approach to investigate the market for sport psychology positions in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) institutions. Athletic administrators' (AA) preferences for various sport psychology positions were compared based on time commitment, affiliation, payment, services, and clients. Results indicated that AAs were most attracted to positions that included (a) part-time commitment, (b) athletic department employment, (c) payment via annual salary, (d) both performance and mental health related services, and (d) work with athletes, teams, and athletics staff members. Over two thirds of the 478 AAs sampled were interested in hiring a sport psychology professional to fill that position. It was concluded that the field of sport psychology collaborate across disciplines and emphasize multiple options for meeting the perceived needs of NCAA athletic departments.