Grit, Athlete Burnout, and Well-Being in Female Collegiate Student-Athletes

CONTEXT

Collegiate student-athletes are faced with significant athletic and academic demands, causing a substantial amount of stress, which can lead to athlete burnout. Problematically, little research has been done to find ways to prevent or mitigate the effect of athlete burnout in collegiate student-athletes. Grit is one characteristic that they could use as a coping mechanism to reduce the effects of burnout and to improve overall well-being.

OBJECTIVE

To determine if grit had a main or buffering effect on well-being and athlete burnout in female collegiate student-athletes.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional study.

SETTING

National Collegiate Athletics Association Division I institution.

PATIENTS OR OTHER PARTICIPANTS

A total of 174 female collegiate student-athletes.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S)

The Grit Scale, Athlete Burnout Questionnaire, and Warwick Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale were used to assess grit, athlete burnout, and well-being.

RESULTS

Grit was a significant negative predictor for physical and emotional exhaustion (F1,172 = 28.25, P < .001), a reduced sense of accomplishment (F1,172 = 20.40, P < .001), and sport devaluation (F1,172 = 40.32, P < .001). Additionally, grit was a significant positive predictor of well-being (F1,172 = 29.68, P < .001). The moderated regression with grit did not reveal significant results.

CONCLUSIONS

We provide new information on considerations for reducing athlete burnout and improving well-being in female collegiate student-athletes. Athletic trainers and sports medicine stakeholders should consider intervention strategies for improving grit to mitigate athlete burnout and diminished well-being while continuing to explore their effectiveness.

1186 Developing And Testing A Web-based Provider Training For Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Of Insomnia

Introduction

Chronic insomnia is a common, debilitating disorder and a risk factor for significant medical morbidity, mental health problems, and workplace difficulties. Cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) is the gold standard treatment for insomnia. However, few providers are trained in CBT-I, in part due to a bottleneck in training availability and the time and cost associated with current training platforms. To address this training deficit, our team developed and evaluated CBTIweb.org, a web-based provider training course for CBT-I.

Methods

Feedback from alpha- and beta-testing of CBTIweb.org was collected and used to optimize course content and functionality. Then, a comparison study was conducted in which licensed providers were randomized to complete either the online CBTIweb.org course (n=21) or an in-person CBT-I training (n=23). During all phases of development, providers completed a Computer System Usability Questionnaire (CSUQ), investigator-developed website usability and content questionnaires, and pre/post-training competency assessments.

Results

Independent samples t-tests indicated significant improvements in CSUQ, and website usability and content questionnaires responses from alpha- to beta-testing (all ps &lt; .05). Linear mixed-effects modeling revealed significant within-subject increases in knowledge acquisition (F(34.7) = 65.4, p &lt; 0.001; baseline = 69% correct, post-training = 92% correct) when collapsed across in-person and web-based groups. The interaction group by time interaction was non-significant (F(34.7) = 1.7, p = 0.204), indicating similar gains in knowledge (i.e., equivalence) between the in-person and the CBTIweb.org training formats.

Conclusion

Alpha and beta testers of CBTIweb.org reported high levels of satisfaction while also noting areas for improvement, which were used to update the site. Findings suggest the final CBTIweb.org product successfully trained clinicians compared to an in-person workshop, given knowledge acquisition improvements. CBTIweb.org is an efficient and effective training platform for clinicians to gain knowledge and competence in the most effective treatment for insomnia.

Support

W81XWH-17-1-0165

0483 Predictors of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT) Outcomes in Active Duty U.S. Army Personnel

Introduction

Cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBTi) is well established as the first-line treatment for the management of chronic insomnia. Identifying predictors of response to CBTi should enable the field to efficiently utilize resources to treat those who are likely to respond and to personalize treatment approaches to optimize outcomes for those who are less likely to respond to traditional CBTi. Although a range of studies have been conducted, no clear pattern of predictors of response to CBTi has emerged.

Methods

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact and relative importance of a comprehensive group of pretreatment predictors of insomnia outcomes in 99 active duty service members who received in-person CBTi in a randomized clinical trial.

Results

Results indicated that higher levels of baseline insomnia severity and total sleep time predicted greater improvements on the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) following treatment. Higher depression symptoms and a history of head injury predicted a worse response to treatment (i.e., smaller improvements on the ISI).

Conclusion

Clinically meaningful improvements, as measured by the reliable change index (RCI), were found in 59% of the sample. Over and above baseline insomnia severity, only depressive symptoms predicted this outcome. Future studies should examine if modifications to CBTi based on these predictors of response can improve outcomes.

Support

This study was conducted with support from the U.S. Department of Defense through the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command, Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs, Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury Research Program award W81XWH-10-1-0828 (PI: Dr Taylor).

0945 Adolescent Sleep Mediates Maternal Depression and Harsh Parenting

Introduction

Mothers dealing with depressive problems often report using more harsh parenting practices. This occurs, in part, due to a scarcity of effective coping mechanisms and increased irritability. In addition, depressed mothers are less likely to set consistent rules and expectations within the home, which may result in children who stay up late. Children who get inadequate levels of sleep also are more likely to have behavior problems, irritability, and defiance toward their parents, particularly in adolescence. However, no studies have examined the potential of adolescent sleep as a contributor to the association between maternal depression and the use of harsh parenting. The current study examined whether mothers’ perceptions of inadequate adolescent sleep duration mediated the relationship between maternal depression and harsh parenting, with child gender as a moderator.

Methods

The sample (N=318) consisted of mothers reporting on adolescents aged 16-18 (M=16.89, SD = .429; 53.4% female) from the 10th wave of the Schools and Families Educating Children Study (SAFE). The SAFE study was a randomized control trial conducted from 1997-2008 designed to investigate children and families living in inner-city Chicago, Il. Measures included the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CESD), and the Parenting Practices Questionnaire (PPQ).

Results

Too little adolescent sleep mediated (β = .15) the relation between maternal depression and her reported use of harsh parenting. Mediation was further moderated by child gender, such that the mediation occurred for sons (β = .12) but not daughters.

Conclusion

These results suggest that too little adolescent sleep is the process through which mothers experiencing depressive problems engage in more harsh parenting. In addition, important child gender differences were apparent, such that sons’ lack of sleep may be more related to maternal depression and the use of harsh discipline.

Support

United States Department of Health and Human Services. National Institutes of Health. National Institute on Drug Abuse (5 R01 DA020829)

How Can We Help You?

Institutional websites are powerful tools that communicate wide range of information. Providing access to higher education requires institutions to consider how services are communicated with a goal of engaging students from diverse populations. This study utilized a conceptual content analysis to review university and college websites to determine how information about support services for first-generation students is electronically communicated. The researchers constructed an evaluative study to assess 14 institutions to formulate a critique and extend the work of Eccles’s expectancy-value theory (1984), which suggests that achievement-related choices are motivated by students’ expectations for success. The results of this study found salient factors to indicate that institutions sought to provide support for first-generation students, but relevant information was not always explicitly conveyed on websites, particularly in ways most likely to engage diverse populations.

Utilizing Social Determinants of Health to Elicit Perceived Control Beliefs About Physical Activity Among African Americans

This qualitative study explored African Americans' perceived behavioral control (PBC) beliefs about how social determinants of health (SDoH) impact their physical activity behavior. Thirty semi-structured interviews were conducted with African Americans aged 30-50 in Oklahoma. Interviews were audio recorded, transcribed, coded, and analyzed for themes by two independent coders. Economic stability themes represented beliefs that financial status facilitates physical activity, yet, employment duties impede physical activity. SES barriers to physical activity did not emerge within this relatively high SES sample. Neighborhood and built environment themes represented beliefs that accessibility facilitates physical activity, while inclement weather impedes physical activity. Although not a part of the question path, motivation emerged as a theme and represented beliefs about how motivation impacts physically active behavior in the absence of other SDoH barriers. This research can inform interventions developed to promote physical activity among African American adults in the central US.

Examining the Relationship between Religious Coping and the Misuse of Prescription Stimulants among a Sample of Undergraduate Students

BACKGROUND

There is a well-established inverse relationship in undergraduate samples between a person's religious coping and substance abuse. Positive religious coping (PRC) has been associated with decreases in the use of alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana. Investigations examining prescription drug misuse and PRC found that higher levels of PRC were related to a reduction in the misuse of some prescription drugs. However, the literature has yet to identify an inverse relationship between PRC and the misuse of prescription stimulants (MPS) among undergraduates.

OBJECTIVE

Examine the association between religious coping and past-year MPS in a sample of undergraduate students.

METHODS

Undergraduates were recruited to complete an anonymous online survey from three universities (1 private, 2 public) in the United States.

RESULTS

The sample consisted of 908 undergraduates between the ages of 18 and 25. Statistical analyses revealed that higher levels of PRC were associated with a reduction in past-year MPS. A separate model found that attending religious events also decreased the behavior. Conversely older students, males, Greek organization affiliation, a lower GPA and having a current stimulant prescription all increased the odds of reporting past-year MPS. Negative religious coping and a student's race were not significantly associated with MPS.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings indicate that PRC skills have the potential to reduce MPS in college students. Therefore, it is possible that the development of similar secular skills could have the same effect. Future studies should explore the role that positive coping skills having on the reduction of MPS among undergraduates regardless of religious conviction.

Disability and Depression

Here, Ann Cvetkovich, interviewed by Abby Wilkerson, brings Cvetkovich's influential cultural studies analysis of depression explicitly into conversation with disability studies. Cvetkovich understands "feeling bad" (a term she prefers to "depression") as a defining affective state under neoliberalism. Drawing on a distinctive historical/cultural archive, she challenges the atomism of the neoliberal medical model that frames depression and affective distress more generally as the result of faulty brain chemistry-individual organisms gone awry. Instead, she traces these common experiences to sociopolitical phenomena ranging from current neoliberal demands for productivity as exemplified in university life, to histories of colonization, slavery, and displacement. The conversation considers the value of disability frameworks for understanding mental health diagnoses and the intersections of social institutions, bodily practices, and everyday affective life.

Ventral hippocampal dopamine D1 and D2 systems and spatial working memory in rats

The hippocampus has long been known to be important for memory function. However, the involvement of hippocampal dopamine systems with memory has received little attention. In the current study, dopamine D1 and D2 hippocampal receptor system involvement with memory was assessed in female Sprague-Dawley rats by local infusion of D1 and D2 agonists and antagonists into the ventral hippocampus. Working memory performance was assessed on the radial-arm maze. Neither the D1 agonist dihydrexidine (1.1-10 microg/side) nor the D1 antagonist SCH 23390 (0.19-1.67 microg/side) was effective in significantly altering radial-arm maze choice accuracy. In contrast, there were significant and opposite effects of D2 agonist and antagonist treatments. The D2 agonist quinpirole caused a significant (P<0.05) dose-related improvement in choice accuracy over a dose range of 1.1-10 microg/side. In a complementary fashion, the D2 antagonist raclopride caused a significant (P<0.05) dose-related choice accuracy deficit over a range of 0.19-1.67 microg/side. This study provides clear evidence that hippocampal D2 activity is positively related to working memory performance, while evidence for D1 systems is less compelling. Dopamine D2 receptors in the ventral hippocampus were shown to have important influences on spatial working memory. In a consistent pattern of effects ventral hippocampal infusion of the D2 agonist quinpirole improved working memory performance in the radial-arm maze, while ventral hippocampal infusion of the D2 antagonist raclopride impaired performance.

The MMPI-2 Gender-role scales as measures of sex-typing

The validity of the MMPI-2 Gender-role GM/GF scales as measures of sex-typing was examined relative to gender classification using the Personality Attributes Questionnaires. Although mean differences by sex were in the expected direction, the scales did not distinguish sex-typed, androgynous, and undifferentiated subjects. Correlations with the PAQ gender scales provided some support for the criterion validity of Gender-role GM scale for both men and women and the Gender-role GF scale for women.

Prenatal nicotine effects on memory in rats: pharmacological and behavioral challenges

Cigarette smoking during pregnancy has been shown in a variety of studies to be associated with cognitive deficits in the children. Nicotine administration to rats during gestation has been found to cause subtle cognitive effects in the offspring. Some individual differences in cognitive impairment may be related to prenatal nicotine effects on noradrenergic (NE) systems. In the current study, 10 Sprague-Dawley rat dams were infused with approximately 2 mg/kg/day of nicotine ditartrate via osmotic minipumps and 10 control dams were exposed to vehicle-containing minipumps from gestational day (GD) 4-20. Starting on postnatal day (PND) 50, the offspring were tested for T-maze rewarded spatial alternation with intertrial intervals of 0, 10, 20, or 40 s. There was a sex- and delay-dependent effect of prenatal nicotine exposure on T-maze alternation. Nicotine-exposed males showed a significant deficit at the 0 s delay. In radial-arm maze (RAM) acquisition training there were no significant nicotine effects. However, significant nicotine-related effects were seen with subsequent behavioral and pharmacological challenges in the RAM. Changing the RAM testing location to an identical maze in a different room elicited a significant choice accuracy deficit in the prenatal nicotine-exposed rats compared with controls. Acute nicotine challenge did not cause any differential effects in the prenatal nicotine and control groups. During the isoproterenol (beta-NE agonist) challenge phase there appeared a significant facilitation of choice accuracy and speeding of response in the prenatal nicotine exposure group which was not seen in the control group. The alpha-NE agonist phenylpropanolamine caused a significant deficit in control females but not in the females prenatally exposed to nicotine. No differential effects of the alpha-NE antagonist phenoxybenzamine were seen in the prenatal nicotine and control groups. Throughout RAM testing there was a significant sex effect with males having better choice accuracy than females. These results demonstrate that the persisting cognitive effects of prenatal exposure to 2 mg/kg/day cause subtle effects in cognitive performance which can be elicited with behavioral and pharmacological challenge. These results also support previous studies suggesting the involvement of NE systems in persisting effects of prenatal nicotine exposure.

Biodegradation of radioactive animals

The two most common disposal alternatives for animals contaminated with radioactive materials are incineration and burial. For most of the country burial has entailed shipping the carcasses to a commercial disposal facility at Barnwell, South Carolina, where it was landfilled along with other solid radioactive waste. Unfortunately, since 30 June 1994, this facility accepts waste generated by the states of the Southeast Compact only. Therefore, burial is no longer an option for most of the country's generators and incineration is an option only for those institutions which have, or have access to, an incinerator that is permitted to burn radioactive materials and that accepts animal carcasses with de minimis levels of radioactive contaminants. Many institutions, especially those in congested urban areas where the public does not support incineration, do not have viable outlets for radioactive animal carcasses. Interim, on-site storage poses problems of its own. Biodegradation of animal carcasses with dermestid beetles is an inexpensive approach to this waste management problem.

Homophobia and the moral authority of medicine

This essay identifies ways in which medicine expresses and legitimizes homophobic values. Examples of such homophobia are identified in the treatment of people with HIV, moralistic interpretations of people with AIDS, certain conceptions about ways in which HIV is transmitted, media representations of AIDS, and even in the way in which medicine's "objectivity" reinforces a moral view inimical to gay men, lesbians, and bisexuals. It is concluded that the notion of medical objectivity and traditional conceptions of the ethics of health care hinder an appreciation of the ways in which medicine presumes and perpetuates homophobic values.