A novel investigation of NCAA athletes’ psychological skill profiles through a person-centered approach

Abstract

ABSTRACT Psychological skills provide useful information about athletes’ competitive levels and athletic successes. However, previous studies on NCAA athletes examined Division I, but not Divisions II and III. Using a person-centered approach, we explored the psychological skill profiles of Division I, II, and III athletes (N = 378; M age = 19.88), who completed an online survey assessing demographic backgrounds and the Athletic Coping Skills Inventory-28. Cluster analyses indicated three profiles – Low Psychological Skills, Moderate Psychological Skills, and High Psychological Skills. Comparison of the profile composition indicated a significantly (1) larger female-to-male athlete distribution in the Low Psychological Skills profile (19.0% to 81.0%) than in the Moderate Psychological Skills profiles (40.2% to 59.8%) and the High Psychological Skills profile (41.7% to 58.3%); (2) larger individual-to-team-sports distribution in the Low Psychological Skills profile (41.5% to 58.5%) than in the Moderate Psychological Skills profile (22.6% to 77.4%); and (3) larger nonstarter-to-starter distribution in the Moderate Psychological Skills profile (48.0% to 52.0%) than in the High Psychological Skills profile (27.2% to 72.8%). The profile composition was not significantly different across division. Additionally, the High Psychological Skills profile had a significantly higher average amount of psychological practices than the Low Psychological Skills profile.