The purpose of this dissertation was to use self-determination as a theoretical framework to investigate factors that influence college athletes adherence to injury rehabilitation programs. A two-part study, quantitative and qualitative approaches were used to gain insight into athletes motivation and decisions that they make regarding their engagement in injury rehabilitation. The focus of the quantitative study was to investigate the relationships between personal autonomy, levels of self-determination, perceived autonomy support, and perceived competence in injury rehabilitation. Participants (N=193 college athletes) completed surveys in a retrospective design. Autonomy orientations were positively related to higher levels of self-determination and the perception of an autonomy supportive environment. Findings suggested that a combination of autonomy and control orientations is associated with higher forms of motivation. In the qualitative study, 12 athletes, who had incurred a significant injury, and their athletic trainers, were interviewed about their perceptions of the injury rehabilitation program, health-care climate, and perceived competence. Three themes emerged that represent their views: (a) the powerful role that significant others play in the injury rehabilitation process; (b) the importance of maintaining an open dialogue; and (c) the utility of setting and achieving obtainable goals. Taken together, the results of these studies provide valuable information that can be used by researchers and practitioners to identify strategies that should enable athletic trainers to structure autonomy-supportive environments that will foster higher levels of self-regulation, motivation, and self-determination that ultimately will lead to improved adherence in treatment programs.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LSU/oai:etd.lsu.edu:etd-11142006-205417 |
| Date | 15 November 2006 |
| Creators | Green, Ryan Mark |
| Contributors | Melinda A Solmon, Richard A Magill, Amelia M Lee, Dennis K Landin, Amy Copeland |
| Publisher | LSU |
| Source Sets | Louisiana State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-11142006-205417/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached herein a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to LSU or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below and in appropriate University policies, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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