Athletic Trainers' Educational Satisfaction and Technique Use within the Psychosocial Intervention and Referral Content Area

Abstract

Context: Athletic trainers (AT) must address both physical and mental aspects of athletic injury in a holistic rehabilitation program.Objective: Assess ATs' satisfaction with educational preparation within the Psychosocial Intervention and Referral (PIR) content area, confidence in using related techniques, and frequency of technique use within clinical settings.Design: Cross-sectional survey.Setting: Online survey.Participants: 1701 ATs with BOC certification for ≤ 7 years participated. In regards to employment settings, 36.1% of the participants worked at the college/university level, 30.7% in private clinics, and 23.2% at secondary schools.Main Outcome Measure(s): Descriptive statistics were used to examine participants' confidence and frequency of using various PIR techniques. A MANOVA was used to evaluate group differences (accredited vs. internship, edition of educational competencies, clinical setting) in satisfaction, confidence, and frequency of technique use.Results: The average technique use was 3.58 (±1.92) for motivation, 6.19 (±2.16) for self-talk, 6.2 (±2.06) for relaxation, and 6.53 (±2.0) for imagery. Technique usage became progressively more infrequent from relaxation (mean = 5.25, SD = 2.2), to self-talk (mean = 6.19, SD = 2.0), to imagery (mean = 6.53, SD = 2.1). The results identified a significant group difference for edition of educational competencies (F45,2969 = 1.848, P < 0.001, η2partial = 0.027) with ATs educated under the fourth edition reporting more frequent technique use. The results identified a significant group difference for route to AT certification (F30,2464 = 1.477, P = 0.046, η2partial = 0.018) with internship ATs reporting the most infrequent use.Conclusions: Athletic training education programs are providing education in most PIR competencies; however, ATs have infrequent implementation of techniques in clinical practice. In addition, educators should examine how to modify the instruction of the PIR competencies to promote implementation within clinical education settings.