A number of Laboratory for Sport Psychology and Performance Excellence students, faculty, and alumni presented research at the 34^th Annual Association for Applied Sport Psychology (AASP) conference in Portland, Oregon on October 23-26, 2019. Over the course of four days, members of the LSPPE presented symposiums, workshops, panels, lectures, and posters.

LSPPE faculty Dr. Barbara Meyer, alumnus Dr. Stacy Gnacinski (Drake University), and doctoral student Carly Wahl presented a symposium on A Systems-Based Approach to Recovery Intervention in Elite Sport Environments. Each presenter discussed evidence-based methods of recovery for different members of the performance team (e.g., performance team staff, athletes, coaches). The symposium identified recovery needs and barriers among all members within the performance team, and provided sport psychology practice recommendations for enhancing recovery for all of those members.

Along with sport injury researchers from Australia, United Kingdom, and United States, LSPPE faculty Dr. Monna Arvinen-Barrow presented as part of a symposium titled Psychology of Sport Injury: Theory to Practice and Practice to Theory.  Dr. Arvinen-Barrow’s presentation focused on how theory can contribute to practice in working with injured collegiate athletes, highlighting the importance of adopting an interprofessional biopsychosocial approach to sport injury rehabilitation.

Alumnus Courtney Hess (University of Massachusetts Boston) contributed to the featured Burt Giges workshop The Spirit and Tradition of Experiential Learning. The inaugural Burt Giges workshop sought to emulate Dr. Giges’s approach of learning the “how” of sport psychology consulting.

Dr. Arvinen-Barrow, along with LSPPE alumni Dr. Gnacinski and Hess also presented a featured student workshop, The Path to Publishing Your Work: Understanding Academic Publication Procedures. The workshop provided students with a didactic, interactive learning experience to better understand the academic publishing process. The workshop also introduced the new AASP foundation sponsored student-centric journal, Journal for Advancing Sport Psychology in Research (JASPR).

Alumnus Dr. William Massey (Oregon State University) contributed to the panel on Navigating Sport Psychology Research Agendas Centered on Equity, Inclusion, and Social Justice. The panel brought together scholars whose research agenda is grounded within a social justice orientation.

Alumnus Dr. Jenn Jacobs (Northern Illinois University) contributed to the presentation of a lecture concerning Body Image Stories: Perspectives of Middle School Girls in a Boxing Program and Dr. Arvinen-Barrow contributed to the presentation of a lecture on Mental Performance Consultants’ Experiences with Support Staff in NCAA DI Athletic Departments.

The LSPPE members were also active in service to AASP. Hess was recognized for her work as a student representative of the AASP executive board for 2018-2019.  Dr. Arvinen-Barrow spent time announcing and promoting the new, AASP foundation sponsored student-centric journal. As the establishing Editor-in-Chief of the Journal for Advancing Sport Psychology in Research (JASPR), Dr. Arvinen-Barrow was pleased to see so much interest in the journal from students, early career professionals, and faculty alike.

The AASP conference is also famous for its high quality poster presentations. This year did not disappoint – there were a tremendous number of fascinating posters presented on both Thursday and Friday. LSPPE students, faculty, and alumni all made a significant contribution to the posters on hand.

LSPPE poster presentations

Alphabetical order, LSPPE students, faculty, alumni are in bold

Clement, D., & Arvinen-Barrow, M. (October, 2019). An investigation into former high school athletes’ experiences of a multidisciplinary approach to sport injury rehabilitation.

Ford, J., Beauchemin, R., Halama, B., Ildefonso, K., Zike, D., & Arvinen-Barrow, M. (October, 2019). Exploring the use of performance strategies in division 1 athletes.

Gilbert, K., & Massey, W. (October, 2019). Psychological effects of sport injury on an NCAA division I student athlete: A qualitative case study.

Gnacinski, S., Nai, M., Meyer, B., Brady, M., & Newman, N. (October, 2019). Examining recovery experience predictors of national collegiate athletic association athletic trainers’ stress.

Henert, S., Zurbrugg, A., Wahl-Alexander, Z., & Jacobs, J. (October, 2019). Exercise self-efficacy ratings among college students enrolled in a sport education fitness class versus a traditional fitness class.

Ildefonso, K. Earl-Boehm, J., & Arvinen-Barrow, M. (October, 2019). Collegiate student-athletes’ perceptions of social support.

Jacobs, J., Wahl-Alexander, Z., & Mack, T. (October, 2019). Performing under extreme pressure: A case study of a coach leading a sport-based leadership program inside a medium-security juvenile detention center.

Nai, M., Gnacinski, S., Newman, N., & Meyer, B. (October, 2019). Examining recovery experience among NCAA coaches.

Wahl, C., Meyer, B., & Gnacinski, S. (October, 2019). Examining differences in athletes’ perceptions of perceived stress and recovery between NCAA divisions.

Zike, D., & Arvinen-Barrow, M. (October, 2019). Reflections on becoming a PhD student: Lessons learned.

Other UWM College of Health Sciences students, faculty, and alumni also contributed to the panels and posters at the conference. Alumnus Caitlyn Hauff (University of South Alabama) contributed to the panel Making Weight: Risks and Rewards. The panel discussed the prevalence of Disordered Eating Behaviors and Eating Disorders among athletes and the continued risk to health, well-being, and sport performance.

UWM CHS poster presentations beyond LSPPE

Rodriguez, A., Ede, A., Madrigal, L., Vargas, T. (October 2019) Qualitative exploration of the ideal body and appearance role models among athletes with physical disabilities.

Wartalowicz, K., Kiefer, H., Petrie, T., Cusack, Greenleaf, C., K., Martin, S. (October 2019). Fitness and physical activity as predictors of female middle school students’ academic performance.

See conference details at appliedsportpsych.org/annual-conference/