Validation of an Instrument for Measuring Professional Behaviors Across Students Enrolled in Allied Health Professional Programs.

Students enrolled in professional education programs preparing for a career in a healthcare need to learn knowledge, skills, and a wide range of professional attributes. However, the nature of clinical and didactic curricula germane to allied health professional programs makes it difficult to find accurate and useful means of measuring knowledge of and the skills associated with professional behaviors. As allied health educators, it is critically important to identify a reliable and effective instrument that can assess professional attributes of students in terms of their knowledge and skill. In the current study, 180 of 189 students (response rate 95.2%) from five allied health pro¬grams completed the online Professionalism Assessment Tool (PAT) to assess their professional attributes. The PAT was analyzed by each domain for internal consistency and by each item for floor and ceiling effects. Each domain met the a priori Cronbach alpha (range 0.90-0.94) and item floor effects were acceptable (range 1.17%-18.75%). Fourteen items in three domains exceeded a priori ceiling effects. Based upon the results of the current study, the PAT, originally created and validated for pharmacy students, appears to address common weaknesses identified in other instruments measuring professional behaviors within other health professional students.

Psychological Impact of Cognitive Rest Following Sport-Related Concussion on Low Socioeconomic Status Adolescent Patients.

PURPOSE: Describe the psychological impact of cognitive rest in adolescents recovering from concussion from sport-related concussion. METHODS: Eight male football players with a previous sport concussion and full recovery completed semi-structured interviews during focus group sessions. Using content analysis, the researchers independently analyzed notes and transcriptions to identify themes associated with the psychological impact of cognitive rest. RESULTS: Common themes included: 1) sport as social support, and 2) boredom-complicated recovery following cognitive rest. CONCLUSIONS: The current treatment protocol indicating cognitive rest and removal from school and sport may be detrimental in a population that is peer-dependent. Future research should explore generalizability and additional factors that may complicate psychological recovery of adolescent athletes following concussive injuries.

Reliability and validity of an instrument to describe burnout among collegiate athletic trainers.

CONTEXT: The existing investigations of professional burnout among certified athletic trainers (ATs) were conducted before 2000. Since 2000, several educational and legal changes have redefined the job duties and responsibilities of the AT working in collegiate athletics. OBJECTIVE: To develop an instrument to determine factors that contribute to burnout in ATs employed within the collegiate athletics setting. DESIGN: Descriptive study. SETTING: National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I-A universities. PATIENTS OR OTHER PARTICIPANTS: Instrument design experts and ATs employed in various NCAA Division I-A athletic programs. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): The Athletic Training Burnout Inventory (ATBI) included the Maslach Burnout Inventory (18 items) plus 45 new items to address established factors that lead to burnout and to address workload issues specific to athletic training. We initially developed 3 constructs (emotional exhaustion and depersonalization, level of stress, and level of organizational support) and included them in the 2 field tests and first pilot test of the ATBI. For the second pilot test, the instrument comprised 4 constructs: emotional exhaustion and depersonalization, administrative responsibility, time commitment, and organizational support. The 2 field tests were conducted to establish face and content validity of the ATBI. Reliability analyses were conducted twice on the 2 separate pilot tests using a Cronbach alpha set a priori at .70 and an item-to-total correlation. RESULTS: The second pilot test of the ATBI with the 4 constructs was determined reliable (emotional exhaustion and depersonalization, alpha = .85; administrative responsibility, alpha = .82; time commitment, alpha = .86; and organizational support, alpha = .80); however, some items within 2 constructs appeared suspect with low item-to-total correlations (<0.25). CONCLUSIONS: The second administration of the ATBI produced an acceptable response rate. All 4 constructs were reliable; however, the suspect items within the constructs need further investigation. Researchers need to evaluate the conceptual worth of these items to the entire instrument.

Perceptions and attitudes of athletic training students toward a course addressing psychological issues in rehabilitation.

In 1999, athletic training adopted new educational competencies and clinical proficiencies addressing the following domains: (1) risk management, (2) assessment and evaluation, (3) acute care, (4) general medical conditions and disabilities, (5) pathology of illness and injury, (6) pharmacologic aspects of injury and illness, (7) nutritional aspects of injury and illness, (8) therapeutic exercise, (9) therapeutic modalities, (10) health care administration, (11) professional development and responsibilities, and (12) psychosocial development and responsibilities. These newly adopted competencies and proficiencies have improved the academic preparation of future certified athletic trainers. However, the addition of the 12th domain, psychosocial development and responsibilities, still may not provide athletic training students with a thorough understanding of the complex issues surrounding psychological adjustment to injury. This research study examined athletic training students' perceptions and attitudes before and after completing a new course addressing psychological issues of injury.

Integrating and analyzing psychosocial and stage theories to challenge the development of the injured collegiate athlete.

OBJECTIVE: To integrate a psychosocial developmental theory and a psychological stage theory for challenging an injured collegiate student-athlete's personal development and to highlight future areas of research. DATA SOURCES: I searched Education Abstracts, ERIC, Social Science Citation Index, and SPORT Discus for the years 1990-2001 using the key words student-athlete,injury,psychological reaction,Chickering, and psychosocial. DATA SYNTHESIS: Stage theories are theoretic models that outline basic reactions to a stressor, regardless of age, sex, or ethnicity. In textbooks addressing the injured athlete, the Kubler-Ross stages of bereavement constitute one of the most commonly presented stage theories addressing the psychological reaction to injury. Psychosocial theories, on the other hand, such as the Chickering and Reisser theory, are theoretic models developed in the educational literature that outline the personal development process (ie, vectors) through which adolescents and adults progress. For this review, the Kubler-Ross and Chickering and Reisser revised theories will be used to outline possible psychological reactions to injury throughout the development progression from vector 1, competence, through vector 7, integrity. CONCLUSIONS: The 1999 Athletic Training Clinical Proficiencies as outlined by the National Athletic Trainers' Association Education Council require clinical proficiencies in the area of psychosocial intervention and referral, yet psychosocial theory is rarely addressed in athletic training educational curricula or texts. Presenting a universal psychosocial developmental theory, such as the Chickering and Reisser 7 vectors, and integrating a common stage theory, such as the Kubler-Ross stages of bereavement, are beneficial in providing athletic training students and athletic trainers additional skills to recognize and mediate negative psychological reactions to injury and in illuminating new areas of research.