705. Psychology, Behavior and Neurobiology - behavioral aspects of sport Scientific Abstract

1372 - Differences In Wellness Levels Between Division Ii Athletes’ Completion/non-completion History Of A College Wellness Course

Session Type
Rapid Fire Platform
Session Name
C-16 - Athletes and Behavior
Session Category Text
Psychology, Behavior and Neurobiology
Disclosures
 M. Mayol: None.

Abstract

Previous research on NCAA Division II student-athletes (SAs) as it relates to multi-dimensional wellness is scarce. PURPOSE: To examine differences in wellness levels between SAs who completed a college wellness course and those who did not. METHODS: Overall, 530 SAs (nmales = 355, nfemales = 175) between 18 and 23 years of age (M = 19.40, SD = 1.33) from 21 teams voluntarily completed the paper-based Multi-Dimensional Wellness Inventory (Mayol, Schreiber & Scott, 2017) and a demographic questionnaire. The 45-item MDWI measures one’s perceived behavior with respect to personal wellness orientation within nine dimensions: physical wellness exercise (PWE), physical wellness nutrition (PWN), mental (MW), social (SW), spiritual (SPW), intellectual (IW), environmental (EW), occupational (OW) and financial (FW). A factorial MANOVA was performed to analyze the differences in wellness levels. An alpha level of p ≤ .05 was set for statistical significance. RESULTS: There was a statistically significant multivariate effect in SAs, F(9, 451) = 4.72, p < .001, Wilk's Λ = .91, partial η2 = .09 with seven significant univariate main effects seen for PWE, F(1, 459) = 8.60, p =.004; PWN, F(1, 459) = 21.35, p < .001; MW, F(1, 459) = 13.01, p < .001; SW, F(1, 459) = 12.32, p < .001; IW, F(1, 459) = 14.13, p < .001; OW, F(1, 459) = 14.66, p < .001; and FW, F(1, 459) =10.58, p = .001. No statistically significant univariate effects were seen for SPW and EW (p > .05). SA wellness course completers demonstrated higher PWE, PWN and MW levels (M = 14.43, SD = 3.29; M = 13.36, SD = 3.40; M = 17.08, SD = 2.14) than SA non-completers (M = 13.36, SD = 3.40; M = 13.36, SD = 3.40; M = 16.18, SD = 3.32). Additionally, SA wellness course completers showed higher SPW, EW and OW levels (M = 15.44, SD = 1.83; M = 15.08, SD = 2.65; M = 16.34, SD = 2.30) than SA non-completers (M = 14.87, SD = 2.03; M = 14.24, SD = 2.70; M = 15.81, SD = 2.36). CONCLUSIONS: Results demonstrated higher scores in PWE, PWN, MW, SW, IW, OW and FW for SAs who completed the wellness course versus SAs who did not. Findings indicate a need for future research pertaining to holistic wellness programming for SAs as well as targeted programming and support for this population. A multi-dimensional wellness intervention may assist in identifying and improving wellness deficits to further facilitate overall well-being in SAs.
Collapse