Collegiate Women Athletes: Contribution of Attachment, Identity, and Athlete Engagement to Meaning in Lif

In this study, I examined how women's personality (i.e., attachment style), identity development (i.e., athlete identity centrality, women identity centrality, woman-athlete identity interference), and engagement in sports (i.e., athlete engagement) predicts collegiate women athletes' presence of and search for meaning in life. There were two hypotheses: (a) attachment anxiety, attachment avoidance, women identity centrality, athlete identity centrality, woman-athlete identity interference, and athlete engagement would predict unique variance in presence of meaning in life; and (b) attachment anxiety, attachment avoidance, women identity centrality, athlete identity centrality, woman-athlete identity interference, and athlete engagement would predict unique variance in search for meaning in life. The participants (N = 97) were volunteer collegiate women athletes enrolled at NCAA Division I institutions. All participants were current Division I collegiate athletes over the age of 18. They responded to six instruments via an online survey. The instruments were: (a) Experience with Close Relationships Inventory (ECR; Brennan, Clark, & Shaver, 1998); (b) Woman Identity Centrality Scale: Revised (WIC:R; adapted from Sellers et al., 1997); (c) Athlete Identity Centrality Scale: Revised (AIC:R; adapted from Sellers et al., 1997), comprised of Athlete Self Identity Centrality (AIC-Self) and Athlete Social Identity Centrality (AIC-Social); (d) Woman-Athlete Identity Interference Scale: Revised (W-AII:R; adapted from Settles, 2004); (e) Athlete Engagement Questionnaire (AEQ; Lonsdale, Hodge, & Jackson, 2007); and (f) The Meaning in Life Questionnaire (MLQ; Steger et al., 2006). I conducted two hierarchical regression analyses to test two hypotheses. The EFA analysis on the three identity scales resulted in fewer items for all three scales and a two-factor model for the Athlete Identity Centrality Scale: Revised. Because a preliminary MANOVA analysis revealed dating status differences for attachment avoidance, presence of meaning in life, and search for meaning in life, I controlled for dating status in analyzing both hypotheses. All hypotheses were partially supported. Overall, attachment avoidance and athlete engagement predicted unique variance in presence of meaning in life. Additionally, attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance predicted unique variance in search for meaning in life. The results suggest that attachment style and athlete engagement predict collegiate women athletes' presence of and search for meaning in life. I discuss limitations of the study as well as the implications for research and practice.