High school coaches’ attitudes toward sport psychology consultation and the barriers to implementation of sport psychology services

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine high school coaches’ attitudes toward sport psychology consultation and the barriers to implementation of sport psychology services. A convenience sample of 296 high school coaches (n_male = 225; n_female = 71) across the Northeast region of the United States completed the Sport Psychology Attitudes Revised Coaches-2 questionnaire and an open-ended question, “What are the barriers to using a sport psychology consultant with your team?”. Results showed that high school coaches had a positive attitude toward sport psychology services, believed these services were useful, were moderately willing to be personally involved in these services with their athletes, and did not show a strong preference for those of a similar cultural identity. However, barriers to implementation of sport psychology services were identified, such as cost, time, sport psychology consultant access and availability, coaches’ lack of knowledge about the role of a sport psychology consultant, stigma from the athletes, lack of administrative and parental support, “fit” and competency of the sport psychology consultant, evidence of effectiveness, no need for a sport psychology consultant, and issues with confidentiality/consent. These barriers reflect the current challenges associated with the standards of practice within the field of sport psychology. Expanding sport psychology services to the high school domain has the potential to foster young athletes’ emotional and physical development and thus, improve athlete performance.