National Collegiate Athletic Association Athletic Trainers’, Head Coaches’, and Student-Athletes’ Perceptions of Professional Titles Used in Sport PsychologyA

Abstract

The purpose of this convergent mixed-methods study was to explore National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I athletic trainer (AT), head coach, and student-athlete perceptions of three commonly used sport psychology professional titles in the United States: Certified Mental Performance Consultant (CMPC), mental conditioning coach, and sport psychologist. Participants included 73 ATs, 79 head coaches, and 76 student-athletes. Participants completed an online questionnaire that assessed their previous exposure to these professionals, the services they believed these professionals could provide, their confidence in sport psychology consultation from these professionals, and their stigma tolerance of these professionals. A series of Friedman tests found that ATs and student-athletes perceived significantly more confidence in the services of a sport psychologist compared to a CMPC and a mental conditioning coach. A series of Kruskal-Wallis tests revealed that student-athletes perceived significantly more stigma in using services from all three professionals than head coaches and ATs. Participants reported that sport psychologists could provide mental performance and mental health services, while CMPCs and mental conditioning coaches primarily provided mental performance services. However, short answer responses from many ATs and head coaches about CMPCs demonstrated some doubt and misunderstanding of this professional title.