Thesis advisor: Henry Braun / Informed by Astin's Input-Environment-Outcome (I-E-O) model and Pascarella's general model, this study explored the nature of student-athletes' engagement in educationally purposeful activities, described their engagement patterns, and revealed the relationships between student engagement factors and college outcomes by class and gender for 2596 student-athletes from 30 Division-I institutions. This research demonstrated that the NSEE Five Benchmarks constructed for the general population did not fit student-athletes. Therefore, engagement factors for student-athletes were constructed based on a subset of component items from the Five Benchmarks. Hierarchical Linear Models (HLM) were then applied to National Survey for Student Engagement (NSSE) 2006 and the aggregated school level data from the NCAA. The research results reveal that the association patterns between engagement factors and college outcome variables Satisfaction (SA), General Education and Personal Competence (GEPC), and Personal and Social Development (PSD) across all class and gender subgroups are very similar, but differ from those for GPA. This research concludes that engagement in educationally purposeful activities is the best predictor for student-athletes' college outcomes (except GPA). The analyses also reveal that what students do on campus contributes more to their college outcomes than who they were at matriculation and which school they attend. In particular, for all outcomes, the fraction of the total variance due to between-school differences was very small and the relationships between the coefficients of school-level equations and school-level characteristics were inconsistent. The results of this study, along with other related studies, can help colleges devise strategies to better fulfill their primary obligation to create genuine educational opportunities for their student-athletes through fostering their holistic development. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2013. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Research, Measurement and Evaluation.

This study examined the relationship between intercollegiate participation and persistence in college. In addition, it explored the different factors that influenced student athletes' persistence patterns as compared to non-student athletes at residential liberal arts schools. Using data from the Wabash National Study of Liberal Arts Education (WNS), I first examined if student athletes were more likely to persist while controlling for background characteristics. Next, using Braxton's revised theory of student departure as a theoretical lens, I examined how eight factors (ability to pay, commitment of the institution to student welfare, communal potential, institutional integrity, proactive social adjustment, psychosocial engagement, social integration, and subsequent college commitment) influenced persistence in student athletes as compared to non-student athletes while controlling for students' backgrounds. The findings suggest that student athletes are more likely to persist. In addition, while Black students were more likely to persist than non-Black students as a whole, Black student athlete were less likely to persist than Black non-student athletes. Also, while some factors influenced student athletes and non-student athlete persistence patterns differently, no consistent pattern emerged. This study contributes to Braxton's model by suggesting classroom achievement, as measured by GPA, should be considered for inclusion in the model. Finally, this study has implications for administrators, especially those considering the use of athletics as an enrollment strategy.

The Black experience throughout the history sport has engendered significant transformations to the landscape and culture of both sport and society. However, in the present sociocultural climate of intercollegiate athletics, the disproportion of Black male student athletes in the revenue generating high profile sports have a unique experience in sport unlike their athlete and non-athlete counterparts. The uniqueness of these student athletes’ experiences exists in the ways in which they figure to negotiate their Blackness and their roles as an athlete and student contextualized within the current racial climate of sport culture. There remains a gap in existing literature and research of the conditions and lived experiences of Black student athletes concerning the developmental process of racial identity and its relationship with their athletic identities and academic self-concepts. The present research addresses this gap of knowledge about these stakeholders (i.e. the Black male student athlete) in sport by conducting a mix-methods study exploring the issues of identities, academic self-concept, and developing a deeper understanding based on the experiential knowledge of participants. The relationships between racial and athletic identity and academic self-concept were examined with a participant sample of Black male college football players at Division 1-A universities (N=255). Additionally, a qualitative instrumental case study grounded by Critical Race Theory explored the experiences and perceptions of eleven Black male student athletes participating in high profile athletic programs at predominately White institutions. The research findings indicate at least partial evidence of a relationship between pre-encounter assimilationist and miseducation attitudes with academic self-concept mediated by an elevated athletic identity of participants. There were five themes that emerged from the empirical materials. The themes are presented as: Lane Assignments, Allegiance to the Game versus Classroom, Race Matters??, Conformity, and Still at Work. This research illustrates that the identity, academic self-concepts and experiences of the Black male student athlete in college sport is vastly impacted by complex sociocultural systems. Findings suggest intercollegiate athletic support staff should purposefully accommodate the needs and experiences of student athletes with culturally relevant systems of practice to enhance student athlete development. / text

As National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I student-athletes arrive on college campuses, many often struggle in transitioning to the rigors of college academics and social life. To aid in this transition from high school to college, Division I athletic departments often utilize peer-mentor study hall programs, where incoming student-athletes work with non-athlete undergraduate and graduate master students to develop academic, study, and time management skills necessary for college success. The purpose of this study was to evaluate how the thoughts and feelings about the purpose and outcome of study hall differed across the expert/novice spectrum. How do student-athletes, peer mentors, and academic support staff perceive the purpose of study hall? What is the expected outcome of study hall? These questions will be explored and the varying array of results presented in a discussion that will illuminate the differences between expert and novice perceptions regarding study hall.

Institutions of higher learning have contributed to their communities for many years. Universities were founded on the strong principles of service and have continued to embrace that commitment. Athletics Departments at the Division I level are required by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) to develop community service programs for student-athletes to give back to the community while in college.The purpose of this study was to determine (1) what motivates student-athletes to participate in community service in college, (2) what values are associated with student-athletes, and (3) what is the leadership role of the Athletics Department in the student-athletes' willingness to participate in community service.Six motivation factors were identified during the analysis of the data: motivation by asking, motivation by social responsibility, motivation by being required, motivation to volunteer with intrinsic reward, motivation for career experience, and motivation through participation in a group/organization. These motivation factors were used as dependent variables and statistically significant relationships occurred when comparing socio-economic status, number of years of church service, and participation in co-curricular service.Furthermore, three value factors were identified: value of helping others, value of personal status, and values of family and friends. The value factors were used as independent variables and statistically significant relations occurred when comparing gender, father and mother volunteering, socio-economic status, number of years of church service, mandated service prior to college, service participation in college, extra-curricular service in college, co-curricular service in college and Dean mandated service in college.In addition, the role of the Athletics Departments was compared to other community service opportunities, for example, service-learning, co-curricular service, extra-curricular service, and mandated service. The Chalk Community Service Model (2007) was also used to illustrate various types of community service and to define such service clearly.Student-athletes and staff members were interviewed and several themes were identified such as the motivation to help others, the student-athletes' value of personal status, the Athletics Department's influence on their community service participation, mandatory community service, being a role model, and thanking the community were all statements made during interviews.

This thesis aimed to develop a clearer understanding of the academic and psychological patterns of elite student-athletes. In particular, it takes a psychological perspective on how these dual role individuals cope with potential role conflict and maintain balance in their lives. The thesis is comprised of four studies: Study I investigated the academic outcomes (grade point averages) and academic preparation (A level points) of 120 elite British student-athletes compared to the average of their non student-athlete peers (n = 5395). The results showed that firstly, some student-athletes - in particular those who were male, younger and who played team sports - were more academically 'at risk' than others. Study 2 presented a systematic review of student-athlete psychological outcomes. A variety of research implications were found, including the need to; measure student-athlete role conflict; link objective and psychological outcomes in the same study; measure student outcomes as well as athletic ones; utilise a studentathlete specific measure of career maturity; research the elite British student-athlete experience; and undertake comparative U.S./U.K. student-athlete research. Study 3 took its lead from the implications of the systematic review. Firstly, Study 3a aimed to construct and initially validate a multidimensional and bidirectional measure of student-athlete role conflict, using the conceptualisations of work-family role conflict from the organisational psychology literature (Carlson, Kacmar and Williams, 2000). The outcome of this study was a 23-item measure of student-athlete role conflict. Secondly, Study 3b aimed to use the role conflict. measure to investigate the psychosocial patterns of elite student- athletes finding that objective outcomes (e.g. GPA, sporting level, hours in role), identity, role conflict and career maturity associate and differ in ways that would be anticipated, i.e. sport with sport and academic with academic (including career maturity). In particular, career maturity positively associated with student identity. However, higher nonexclusive and more intrinsically committed identities helped protect against role conflict. Thus, from a personality perspective, to maintain one's identity balance, the study concluded that one could either adopt appropriate role behaviours or increase role commitment. Study 3c compared U.K. and U.S. student-athletes finding that, although no different in terms of overall GPA and career maturity, U.S. studentathletes experienced significantly more role conflict and were motivated significantly more extrinsically in both their sport and study compared to U.K. student-athletes. Study 4 used a cyclical and collaborative action research approach to understand and respond to a specific elite British student-athlete environment. Role conflict issues were identified and tackled bye ither behavioural psychoeducational programming or by structural management recommendations. The programme of research in this thesis highlights the benefit of taking a psychological perspective on the student-athlete experience. In particular it suggests that college sport can be more than developing one's sporting ability whilst becoming academically qualified. When structured in a developmentally appropriate way, sport and study can act as complementary activities to enhance personal development.

Gaps. University student-athletes face several unique demands that can contribute to greater levels of stress (Gould & Whitley, 2009; Kimball & Freysinger, 2003). If unresolved, stress can compromise well-being and lead to burnout (DeFreese & Smith, 2014). Many studies have shed light on the burnout process of athletes (Goodger, Gorely, Lavallee, & Harwood, 2007; Gustafsson, Kenttä, & Hassmén, 2011). Yet, despite the negative outcomes reported, little has been done to remediate the incidence of burnout in sport. As such, researchers have called for intervention studies to find ways to alleviate and prevent burnout as this type of research is practically non-existent (Eklund & DeFreese, 2015; Goodger, Gorely et al., 2007; Gustafsson et al., 2011; Lonsdale, Hodge, & Rose, 2009) Aim. The overall aim of this research was to investigate the implementation and impact of an individual, feel-based, person-centered self-regulation intervention on the levels and experiences of stress, burnout, well-being, and self-regulation capacity of university student-athletes with moderate to high levels of burnout. Four studies guided by specific objectives were carried out over two phases, that is, the screening phase and the intervention phase. Screening phase. The objective of the study conducted in the screening phase was to examine the levels of burnout among student-athletes at two Canadian universities and investigate whether there were significant differences related to gender, sport, year of university sport participation, academic year, and academic program (Article 1). Results of this study served to identify student-athletes for the intervention phase. Intervention phase. Three studies were conducted in the intervention phase. The objective of the first study was to implement and assess the impact of a self-regulation intervention on the stress, burnout, well-being and self-regulation capacity of university student-athletes experiencing moderate to high levels of burnout (Article 2). The objective of the second study was to investigate the intervention process and experiences of four student-athletes by chronologically presenting their story in order to address how they developed their self-regulation capacity over the course of the season, and the strategies they used to influence their experiences of stress, burnout, and well-being (Article 3). Finally, the objective of the third study in this phase was to investigate the integration and adaptation of the Cognitive-Affective Stress-Based Burnout Model (CASBBM) to facilitate positive changes in student-athletes participating in an individual self-regulation intervention to alleviate burnout symptoms (Article 4). Methods. Screening phase. To address the objective of the study conducted in the screening phase, 147 student-athletes from different sports at two Canadian universities completed the Athlete Burnout Questionnaire (ABQ, Raedeke & Smith, 2001) and a demographic questionnaire one month prior to the start of their athletic season. Statistical tests were computed based on the complete score set of 145 participants to assess their burnout levels and correlations between the three burnout subscales (i.e., physical and emotional exhaustion, reduced accomplishment, sport devaluation). In addition, a series of one-way between subject ANOVAS, independent t-tests and post-hoc analyses were performed to determine if there were any significant differences in burnout levels across different demographic variables (i.e., gender, sport, year of university sport participation, academic year, and academic program; Article 1). Intervention phase. Next, to address the objectives of the three studies carried out in the intervention phase, eight university student-athletes from the screening phase having scored 3.0 or higher on the physical and emotional exhaustion and reduced accomplishment subscales of the ABQ (Cresswell & Eklund, 2006) took part in an individual, person-centered, feel-based self-regulation intervention guided by the CASBBM (Smith, 1986) and the Resonance Performance Model (Callary & Durand-Bush, 2008). The student-athletes met with the trained researcher every two weeks throughout their athletic season to develop their capacity to manage their thoughts, feelings, and behaviours on a daily basis and to cope with adversity, including stressful situations that contributed to their stress and burnout symptoms. In addition to participating in these multiple intervention sessions, they partook in a pre- and post-intervention interview. All sessions and interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and subjected to a deductive and inductive analysis (Hsieh & Shannon, 2005), following steps to strengthen trustworthiness. Self-report measures of stress, burnout, well-being, and self-regulation capacity were also completed by the eight student-athletes at four time points to fulfill the objective of the first study in this phase. Descriptive statistics and repeated measures ANOVAs were performed to assess levels and identify any significant changes across the four time points. Results were triangulated with that from the qualitative data analysis (Article 2). With regards to the second study, the researcher used the results of the deductive and inductive qualitative data analysis to select four cases based on their distinct profiles and conveyed their intervention experiences by constructing chronological, first-person narratives (Article 3). For the third study, a broader level of qualitative data analysis was performed to compare and contrast the data with the components of the CASBBM to examine its applicability as an intervention tool (Article 4). Results. As shown in Article 1, few student-athletes (1.4%) had elevated burnout scores on all three burnout subscales. However, several of them (17%) scored high on two of the three subscales of the ABQ, revealing signs of burnout. No significant differences emerged with regards to student-athletes’ year of university sport participation, academic year, and academic program. However, women had higher levels of emotional and physical exhaustion than men. Furthermore, exhaustion scores were significantly higher for swimmers and basketball players than for hockey players and fencers. Finally, fencers had significantly higher levels of sport devaluation than hockey and volleyball players. Article 2 indicates that the intervention had a positive impact on the student-athletes’ stress, burnout, well-being, and self-regulation capacity. At the onset of the intervention, the participants had moderate to high levels of stress and burnout as well as low levels of well-being and self-regulation capacity. As the intervention progressed, the student-athletes reported increased self-regulation capacity and well-being, and reduced stress and burnout. The qualitative data corroborated these changes. Through detailed narratives, Article 3 demonstrates how the student-athletes learned to develop their self-regulation capacity by implementing various processes such as goal-setting, planning, time management, cognitive restructuring, self-control, visualization, and self-reflection. The participants shared concrete examples illustrating how they learned to become more aware and autonomous, and proactively mobilize resources in order to manage the many academic and sport demands they faced throughout the season. Concurrent with their increased capacity to self-regulate, the athletes experienced positive outcomes such as lower perceived stress and burnout, higher well-being, and improved performance. Lastly, Article 4 shows that the extensive data emerging from the multiple intervention sessions and pre- and post-intervention interviews supported, for the most part, the components of the CASBBM (Smith, 1986). However, the model was not sufficient or comprehensive enough to account for the student-athletes’ changes in their burnout process as a result of the intervention. As such, the DCASBBM, an adapted and dynamic version of the CASBBM, was created, reflecting both positive and negative aspects of personal characteristics, situations, cognitive appraisals, multidimensional responses, coping, self-regulation, and outcomes that evolved as a result of participating in a self-regulation intervention. The DCASBBM can serve as an intervention tool to help prevent and remediate symptoms of stress and burnout.

The purpose of this study was to examine current kinesiology students' athletic identity, identity foreclosure, perceived task value in sport, and perfectionism. An online survey was distributed via email to current kinesiology students. The survey contained questions regarding demographic information and items from the Athletic Identity Measurement Scale, Extended Objective Measure of Ego Identity Status, Perceived Task Value in Sport, Sport Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale-2, and Multidimensional Inventory of Perfectionism in Sport. Results of the Pearson moment correlations indicated that the higher the athletic identity, the higher the subjective task value, identity foreclosure, perfectionistic strivings, and perfectionistic concerns. Multiple regression analyses were performed to further examine the predictive power of athletic identity, subjective task value, and identity foreclosure for perfectionistic strivings and perfectionistic concerns. Results indicated that athletic identity and subjective task value were significant predictors of perfectionistic strivings. Results also showed that athletic identity and identity foreclosure were significant predictors of perfectionistic concerns. Future research should replicate the study using participants from different geographical regions. Furthermore, future research should consider a longitudinal and qualitative study to investigate the development of subjective task value in sport.

Eligibility requirements, the pressure to remain eligible at all costs, and demanding time schedules are high stakes issues that affect the National Colligate Athletic Association (NCAA) student-athletes. A gap in research existed on whether college student-athletes’ demographics and engagement predicts their academic success. The purpose of this quantitative research was to determine the extent to which engagement and demographic factors predict student-athletes’ academic success, as measured by a self-reported grade of B or higher in NCAA first-year student-athletes. This study was influenced by Astin’s student involvement theory and Kuh’s concept of engagement. The research question guiding this study addressed the extent to which academic and cocurricular engagement, race, sport played, and gender predict NCAA student-athletes’ academic success. Quantitative data were collected from the 2018 National Survey of Student Engagement. The sample analyzed included 1,985 student-athletes. Logistic regression analysis was used to find that males, wrestlers, football players, and Black or African American student-athletes were less likely to achieve academic success, whereas females, tennis players, and both White and Asian student-athletes were more likely to achieve academic success than their peers. Findings were significant at the .05 level, but the variance explained by the models was less than 10%, which implies limited practical significance. Time spent on cocurricular activities and time spent preparing for class did not predict academic success. The findings of this study may be used by the NCAA and higher education institutions to help understand student-athletes’ behaviors and the implications for supporting academic success.

Eligibility requirements, the pressure to remain eligible at all costs, and demanding time schedules are high stakes issues that affect the National Colligate Athletic Association (NCAA) student-athletes. A gap in research existed on whether college student-athletes' demographics and engagement predicts their academic success. The purpose of this quantitative research was to determine the extent to which engagement and demographic factors predict student-athletes' academic success, as measured by a self-reported grade of B or higher in NCAA first-year student-athletes. This study was influenced by Astin's student involvement theory and Kuh's concept of engagement. The research question guiding this study addressed the extent to which academic and cocurricular engagement, race, sport played, and gender predict NCAA student-athletes' academic success. Quantitative data were collected from the 2018 National Survey of Student Engagement. The sample analyzed included 1,985 student-athletes. Logistic regression analysis was used to find that males, wrestlers, football players, and Black or African American student-athletes were less likely to achieve academic success, whereas females, tennis players, and both White and Asian student-athletes were more likely to achieve academic success than their peers. Findings were significant at the .05 level, but the variance explained by the models was less than 10%, which implies limited practical significance. Time spent on cocurricular activities and time spent preparing for class did not predict academic success. The findings of this study may be used by the NCAA and higher education institutions to help understand student-athletes' behaviors and the implications for supporting academic success.