| This investigation reports on the development and validation of the Athlete-Counseling Self-Efficacy Scale (ACSES). The ACSES is a new 29-item multidimensional measure which assesses individuals' confidence in their ability to perform specific skills related to competent athlete-counseling. Factor analysis of data from 306 psychologists and psychology graduate students yielded three factors: (a) Sport Culture Specific Knowledge/Skills, (b) Basic Athlete-Counseling Skills, and (c) Special Athlete Issues. The first factor, Sport Culture-Specific Knowledge/Skills, assesses how confident one is in his or her ability to communicate specific information related to athletes, sport culture, and the sport environment, and to integrate this knowledge into his or her work and counseling process with athletes. The second factor, Basic Athlete-Counseling Therapy Skills, assesses one's confidence in performing basic therapy skills with athlete clients. The third factor, Special Athlete Issues, assesses one's confidence to successfully manage and negotiate multicultural issues and typical diagnoses commonly found within sport environments. The ACSES factors were found to explain a significant proportion of the total variance (61.5%), and to have excellent internal consistency (alphas = .97, .90, and .84, respectively). The ACSES scales were moderately related to a measure of general counseling self-efficacy, minimally related to a measure of social desirability, and able to differentiate among participants with differing levels of counseling experience. The scale scores were also related to interest in athlete-counseling, number of athlete clients counseled, and extent of training in sport psychology. The two primary uses for the ACSES are thought to be for the purposes of general athlete-counseling research and athlete-counselor training. Avenues of research for which the ACSES would be valuable include the investigation of the process of athlete-counseling, and the investigation of the athlete-counseling skills and behaviors related to positive athlete-counseling outcomes. The ACSES could also potentially be used to examine how confident professionals in close working relationships with athletes (e.g., coaches, athletic trainers, performance enhancement consultants) are in providing competent athlete-counseling services. Related to athlete-counseling training, the ACSES could prove to be helpful in the identification and development of course materials, practical experiences, and supervision interventions that best contribute to increasing athlete-counseling self-efficacy. Ultimately, as the only instrument presently capable of measuring athlete-counseling self-efficacy, it is thought that the ACSES could be an important impetus for growth within the field of sport psychology by providing the means to better understand, evaluate, and improve athlete-counseling competency. |
