Date of Award

2018

Document Type

Thesis

Mentor

Brooke Thompson

Abstract

This study analyzed and compared the severity of performance slumps of collegiate student-athletes in general and across academic years. The factors examined with performance slumps included athlete burnout, academic burnout, relationship satisfaction, and grade point averages. The first hypothesis was that reduced accomplishment scores from the athlete burnout questionnaire would indicate the severity of performance slumps. The results did not support the hypothesis. The second hypothesis was that the severity of performance slumps would positively correlate with academic burnout and negatively correlate with relationship satisfaction. The results supported this hypothesis. The third hypothesis was that student-athletes who experienced a performance slump during their sophomore year would have significantly higher scores of athlete and academic burnout and lower relationship satisfaction scores. This hypothesis was based on sophomore slump literature, explaining that sophomores must establish an identity, overcome academic pressures, and maintain relationships without support programs. The results showed that there was no significant difference. The fourth hypothesis was that student-athletes would experience a performance slump more often in their sophomore year than other academic years. The results showed that the student-athletes experienced performance slumps more often in their freshman and sophomore years. The fifth hypothesis was that student-athletes’ grade point averages before and after a performance slump would be higher than their grade point averages during. The results supported this hypothesis. Discussion centers on explaining the results based on student-athletes’ personal descriptions of performance slumps.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

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