senior seminar thesis
TRANSCRIPT
THE INFLUENCE OF TIME MANAGEMENT SKILLS ON STRESS LEVELS OF IN
SEASON AND OUT OF SEASON STUDENT ATHLETES
A SENIOR SEMINAR PROJECT
DEPARTMENT OF EXERCISE SCIENCE
FORT LEWIS COLLEGE
BY
KALEN DEAR
DURANGO, COLORADO
DECEMBER 2014
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter Page
Abstract ………..........................................................................................4
I. INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………..5
Statement of the Problem…………………………………………………6
Significance………...……………………………………………………..6
Delimitations……………………………………………….…..…..……..7
Limitations..……………………………………………………………....8
Assumption……………………………………………………………….8
Hypothesis..………………………………………………………………8
Rational.……………………………………………………….…….……9
Definition of terms…..……………………………………………………10
Abbreviations..............................................................................................11
II. LITERATURE REVIEW…………………………………………...........11
In Season Effects On Academic Performance Of Student Athletes...........11
Stress And Coping Ability Influences On Academic Performance And Well
Being………………………………………………………...….….….....13
Time Management’s Influence On Academic Performance......................15
Time Management’s Effect On College Student’s Stress………………..17
Summary……………………………………………................................19
III. METHODOLOGY....................................................................................19
Population/Selection of Participants..........................................................20
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Instrument/Apparatus................................................................................21
Methods and Procedures............................................................................22
Statistical Design and Analysis.................................................................24
Rationale....................................................................................................24
IV. ANALYSIS OF DATA.............................................................................24
Results…………………………………………………………………...25
V. DISCUSSION, CONCLUSION, AND RECOMMENDATIONS...........31
Findings.....................................................................................................33
Conclusions…………...............................................................................39
Implementations........................................................................................40
Recommendations.....................................................................................40
VI. APPENDIXES...........................................................................................42
IRB Approved Informed Consent Form...................................................42
Cohen’s Perceived Stress Scale................................................................44
Britton and Tesser Time Management Questionnaire..............................45
Nellen’s Time Management Handout.................................................47
REFERENCES.........................................................................................49
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Abstract
The majority of student athletes are stressed to a significant level nowadays with the
massive amount of time they spend on their sports and lack of optimal relaxation. To help with
their stress, various coping strategies has been investigated to identify the tools student athletes
should receive to achieve success. One tool that demonstrated a positive influence on the
reduction of stress was time management. With these significant findings, the purpose of this
study was to further investigate the relationship between stress and time management. More
specifically, the goal was to determine whether a student athlete’s improvement in time
management skills and behavior impacted the athlete’s stress levels during in and out of season
participation. The sample population consisted of 49 student athletes at a Division II school. To
measure stress and time management, participants were administered the Britton and Tesser
(1991) Time Management Questionnaire and the Cohen’s Perceived Stress Scale (1994) twice
during the semester. Descriptive statistics, bivariate correlation analysis and independent t tests
were used to achieve results. Although results did not indicate there was a significant relationship
between the time management skills and stress level, there was a significant relationship between
the improvement of time management and reduction in stress for in season student athletes. In
addition, in season student athlete actually did become more stressed than out of season student
athletes as the semester progressed. However, independent t-test found the difference between
the in season and out of season student athletes to be insignificant. To attain the study’s overall
long term goal to improve student athlete success in college, this is the first significant step to
ensure the best opportunity for student athletes. This will allow student athletes to be as
successful as possible by providing them with useful tools and resources.
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CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
The life of being a student athlete has changed drastically over time from first playing a
sport they love and representing their school to becoming a job with all the pressures they deal
with. This can be contributed to the growth of college sports during the past decades which has
brought additional magnification on student athletes and the pressure athletic departments
receive to help student athletes transition into being successful once they stop playing
competitively. Playing professionally is a dream for many student athletes but in reality, only 1 to
2% of college athletes actually reach professional leagues (Manfred, 2012). This statistic only
emphasizes the importance of a college education to athletes and why many student athletes need
to develop the necessary behaviors to earn a degree. Two traits that are needed for student
athletes to be successful in college are time management and coping strategies to deal with the
additional stresses of being a college athlete.
To handle the school workload and fatigue that sports bring, time management is
necessary to balance the busy lives student athletes live as well as any college student. Besides
the regular student’s daily tasks of going to class, completing homework, and engaging in social
events, student athletes also participate in at least 20 hours of sport-related activities in-season
per week, leaving them with little leisure time (Watt & Moore, 2011; Jordan & Denson, 1990).
As a possible consequence from this finding, studies have shown that athletic participation has
hindered academic performance (Scott, Paskus, Miranda, Petr & McArdle, 2008). Aiding student
athletes with time management ideally ensures they receive greater satisfaction from their
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college experience that may result in achieving higher grades, alleviating stress levels with
school work, and allocating more effective study time to enjoy their college experience more.
In addition to possessing skills of time management, student athletes also need to handle
the stress college presents them with. Stress research has shown that stress can affect health and
negatively impact academic performance (Campbell, Svenson, & Jarvis, 1992; Akgun &
Ciarrochi, 2003). There are many ways to reduce stress such as social support, positive
reappraisal and participating in leisure activity. In addition, effective time management can lower
academic stress (Misra & McKean, 2000; Macan, Shahani, Dipboye & Phillips, 1990). This
study addressed the relationship between time management skills and stress levels of student
athletes who are in season and student athletes who out of season.
Statement of Problem
The purpose of this study was to determine if a student athlete’s improvement in time
management skills and behavior impacts the athlete’s stress levels during in and out of season
participation. Time management and stress are both tied to academic performance. The goal was
to determine if a student’s effective use of time was related to stress levels that benefitted their
academic performance and well being. This study measured stress levels and time management
skills of student athletes in the beginning and middle of the fall semester in 2014. This was the
necessary timeframe to generate comparisons between in season and out of season participation.
Significance
Due to time demands that are required of college students, time management has become
an important skill to acquire for leading a successful college experience. Time management has
been found to positively impact academic achievement to a statistically significant level (Britton
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& Tesser, 1991; Pehlivan, 2013). On the other side of the spectrum, studies have shown students
with less self regulation control experience greater stress and anxiety in school (Misra &
McKean, 2000; Edelekioglu, 2008). In regards to student athletes and their rigid schedule, there
is a need to examine how well they academically do in school with the stressors and what time
management skills contribute to a better experience for them. Recent research from Scott,
Paskus, Miranda, Petr and McArdle (2008) found that student athletes perform worse
academically in their in season of competition than being out of season contrary to popular
belief. To accommodate student athletes for a better experience, it was important for the study to
investigate variables such as stress and time management that play an impactful role in their
well-being and academic life.
There is a lack of literature concerning student athletes stress levels and time
management and this study contributed to the body of knowledge in the well being of student
athletes and their ability to cope with stress. The long reaching goal of this study was to provide
student athletes with skills to ultimately help them in their academics and career life. Nationally
at the Division II level, the graduation rate of student athletes is 64% and here at Fort Lewis
College it’s 62% (National Collegiate Athletic Association, 2014). This statistic signifies the
need to better prepare and mentor student athletes throughout college.
Delimitations
The scope of the study was narrowed down to Division II Fort Lewis College basketball
and soccer players in order to compare seasonal effects of stress and time management.
Freshman athletes were excluded in the study because of the transition between high school to
college and the time to adjust to college life. To evaluate stress and time management, athletes
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took two stress questionnaires and two time management questionnaires. The first set of
questionnaires were completed in the third and fourth weeks in the semester and the second set
took place in the eight and ninth weeks. A handout (Nellen, 2000) on tips to improve time
management were given to the participants along with the questionnaires to emphasize the
benefits of time management skills. The purpose of conducting the tests twice was to form stress
baselines to make accurate comparisons between stress levels and the impact of improved time
management was. The same survey was given to the same participants.
Limitations
One limitation of this study was the interdependence on the participants on self-reporting
measures between time management and stress levels. There are many concerns with these types
of measures because honesty is assumed of the participants. Participants also may have lacked
the introspective ability to answer the question precisely as well as differing understanding of
questions being asked.
Another limitation is the short duration of five weeks that asked athletes to improve their
time management skills. The results depended on the athletes’ actual motivation to elevate their
self-regulation of time. In addition, there were other factors that impacted stress such as
predisposition to anxiety, personality traits, and current life circumstances.
Assumptions
It is assumed that participants answered the questionnaires honestly and sincerely. It is
also assumed the stress test accurately portrayed how the participants are feeling. Another
assumption of the study is that the time management questionnaire properly reflected their time
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management skills. A final assumption is the student athletes attempted to boost their time
management skills for their own personal wellbeing.
Hypothesis
The current study was comprised of three hypotheses. The first predicted outcome was
that student athletes with improved time management would be less stressed in both in season
and out of season participation. For the second hypothesis, it was expected that there would be a
negative correlation between stress and the level of time management skills. The third hypothesis
was that the stress levels of in season student athletes would be higher than those who are out of
season.
Rationale
In prior research concerning time management, individuals who had better time
management behavior were associated with lower stress levels as well as high academic
performance (Misra & McKean, 2000, Macan et al, 1990). With the assumption that student
athletes improved their time management skills, it seemed logical that their stress would be
lowered for any time of their academic year.
For the second hypothesis, Eldelklioglu (2008) provided another basis for the predicted
outcome. In the study, it was shown that students with better time management had less anxiety
and stress compared to high anxiety for students who had low time management skills. This
demonstrated that there was a negative correlation between stress and the level of time
management skills. Misra and McKean’s study also contributed to the evidence which time
management levels are negatively correlated with perceived academic stress. To add the
significance of time management, other studies showed that time management skills were
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correlated to academic performance to a significant level (Britton & Tesser, 1991; Pehlivan,
2013). The findings of Britton & Tesser and Pehlivan prompted the co-investigator to
hypothesize that time management was correlated with stress levels.
The third hypothesis was formulated with the finding that academic performance is
hindered during in season compared to out of season (Scott et al., 2008). Many students become
more stressed when their academic performance is below their expectations and marginal.
Student athlete’s academics are more important to them because they won’t be eligible for the
next sport to participate on the team if their academic performance is below a certain threshold.
Since academic performance plays a big role in student’s satisfaction and student athletes have
less time for academics, it seemed logical that student athletes would be more stress when they
are in season compared to out of season.
Definition of terms
In-season competition- “The time between the team’s first officially recognized practice session
and the last practice session or competition, whichever comes first.” (University of Notre Dame,
2010)
Resourcefulness- “A set of skills for regulating internal events such as emotions that might
otherwise interfere with the smooth execution of a target behavior” (Akgun & Ciarrochi, 2003, p.
288).
Out of season time- “The remaining days during the academic year not included in the in-season
period” (University of Notre Dame, 2010).
Student athlete- “A participant who plays an intercollegiate sport and attend college” (Watts &
Moore, 2001, p. 1).
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Stress- “The nonspecific response of the body to any demand made upon it and concludes that
any major change in one’s life can lead to stress” (Papanikolaou, Nikolaidis, Patsiaouras, &
Alexopoulos, 2003, p. 2).
Time management: “A process that an individual implements planning, organization, and
controlling into his life to use his time effectively and efficiently in order to accomplish his
private and career goals” (Tanrıögen & Işcan, 2009, p. 94).
Abbreviations
FLC: Fort Lewis College
NCAA: National Collegiate Athletic Association
CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
The purpose of this study was to determine if a student athlete’s time management skills
and self regulating behavior impacted the athlete’s stress levels for those who are in and out of
season. This chapter will address the current literature found in the related areas such as seasonal
academic performance of student athletes and on how stress influences academic performance.
The research concerning time management's influence on academic performance and stress will
also be reviewed to provide a background for this study. In addition, this chapter will examine
the similar methods used to measure stress and time management components.
In Season Effects On Academic Performance Of Student Athletes
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With the rise of popularity in college sports, the roles and responsibilities of student
athletes have become more complicated and pressured. In addition to being a regular student,
student athletes are expected to train and perform to their highest level on the field and off the
field academically. To ensure student athletes success in their academic interests, the NCAA
created a time limit for student athletes’ participation in their team activities in 1991 under the
NCAA Division Bylaw 2.14 (Ayers, Cevallos & Dobose, 2012). For the NCAA, this
accomplished their goal of putting academics ahead of athletics. However, in the following years
coaches and universities still abused their time limits that resulted in NCAA President Cedric
Dempsey writing to universities about the importance of following the rules in 2002 (Ayers et al.
2012). This also prompted researchers to conduct thorough research on athletes’ time spent in
activities and its impact on their academics. In 2013, Ayers et. al (2012) investigated whether or
not universities complied with the 20 hour in season and 8 hour out of season time limits. They
questioned student athletes at a Division I university if the set time for academics and athletics
were adequate. From the data gathered, 34% of student athletes answered exactly 20 hours for
their in season activities with their answers ranging from 14 to 30 hours. On the other hand, for
out of season athletic time commitments, the most common answer was 8 hours. For their time
spent on academics, student athletes spent only 13 hours per week both in and out of season. In
regards to their satisfaction with athletic activity, the majority of student athletes were content
with these time commitments towards athletics. Contrary to student athlete’s satisfaction on time
spent on athletic activities, 41% said this time was sufficient for their academic time in season
(Ayers et al, 2012). Although this study was only administered at one college, it helps establish
that in season student academics are impacted by their athletic activities.
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Scott et al.’s (2008) research was a major study that showed student athletes academic
performance is hindered during in season compared to out of season. This finding disputed the
general belief that athletics improved grades with the structure sports gives students. The study
was also large enough to make the general conclusions as valid as they can be in a research
study. In it, three populations were studied at Division I, II, and III schools including both male
and female athletes. The total number of participants was 66,000 students from a wide variety of
sports. Across all divisions, student athletes performed worse academically in season compared
to out of season to a statistically significant level (Scott et al., 2008). In the wake of learning
these facts, the NCAA has taken on collecting student athlete’s perceptions and academic
experiences to learn how schools could do better in their support, policy or personal fixes to help
student athletes succeed.
Chen, Mason, Middleton and Salazar’s (2013) recent study contributed reasoning for
Scott’s finding and offers an explanation why the results were the way they were. The
investigators examined the correlation between student athletes’ grades and time spent on
athletics and found athletics’ grade point average positively correlated with their time attending
class and studying, while time spent in competition and leisure activities negatively correlated
with their grade point average (Chen, Mason, Middleton & Salazar, 2013). Since student
athletes’ time on their academic and athletic activities influence academic achievement, it also
establishes reasoning for why student athlete’s grades are impacted in their playing season and
why their grades are better when they are out of season.
Stress And Coping Ability Influences On Academic Performance And Well Being
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With academic commitments and financial pressures, college students deal with a
tremendous amount of stress. Although stress can be positive sometimes, negative stress has
been shown to negatively affect health and academic performance of students. One health risk of
stress is increased blood pressure which can lead to an elevated risk of disease (Campbell et al.,
1992). To prevent breakdowns from stress, researchers have looked into coping strategies in
order to inform universities and college counselors about helping students persevere through
mentally and academic challenges in college. Academic challenges include maintaining a high
performance learning hard material and mental challenges consist of dealing with stress from
break ups, academic stress and other emotional trials.
In their study, Akgun and Ciarrochi (2003) examined how academic stress affected
academic performance and whether or not learned resourceful students were more effective at
handling stress than less resourceful students. Learned resourcefulness is defined as “a set of
skills for regulating internal events such as emotions that might otherwise interfere with the
smooth execution of a target behavior” (Akgun & Ciarrochi, 2003). Time management is
considered a component of learned resourcefulness because it’s a skill for self regulation for a
target behavior. The sample consisted of 365 undergraduate students at the University of
Wollongong. Researchers gave participants two questionnaires that retrieved information about
their self control schedule and their stress level. Participants’ academic records were also
obtained from the registrar’s office (Akgun & Ciarrochi, 2003). From their results, they
concluded that academic stress did hinder academic performance to a significant level which was
consistent with the previous literature (Clark & Riker, 1985; Felsten & Wilcox, 1992). One
difference that was found concerning resourcefulness was academic stress only impacted low
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resourceful student’s is academic performance whereas higher resourceful student’s grades were
not influenced by academic stress. Another finding from the study was learned resourcefulness
did lower stress to a significant level (Akgun & Ciarrochi, 2003). This helps establish that time
management does indeed lower stress as well as reinforcing that stress negatively impacts
academic performance to a significant level.
Regarding literature about student athlete’s stress, Surujal, Van Zyl and Nolan (2013)
investigated how stressed student athletes are and the relationship between life satisfaction and
coping skills. To assess participants’ satisfaction and coping ability, 281 South African student
athletes were given three questionnaires which were the Perceived Stress Scale (Cohen, 1994),
the satisfaction with life scale and The Athletic Coping Skills Inventory. Similar to Akgun and
Ciarrochi’s findings, they found a significant positive correlation between satisfaction and the
ability to cope with stressors. In addition, student athletes were found to perceive their stress
slightly higher than average (Surujal, Van Zyl & Nolan, 2013). Based on these conclusions, it
gives rationale for the hypothesis for the present study that time management would decrease
student athletes’ stress since time management will give them another strategy to cope with the
pressures of being a student athlete.
Time Management’s Influence On Academic Performance
In the past couple decades, researchers have started to examine the relationship between
time management and academic performance in order to inform students and advisors on how to
succeed in college. This research has added to the body of knowledge of traits and behaviors of
college success such as personality traits, stress levels, and test scores. Once an afterthought,
time management has materialized into an important aspect for student success to investigate.
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One of the first major and relevant studies that examined the relationship between time
management and academic success was Britton and Tesser’s (1991) Effects of Time Management
Practices on College Grades. The findings from this study presented one of the initial insights
into the effect of time management on academic performance as well as the components to
measure time management. From a sample of 90 freshman and sophomore undergraduates at
University of Georgia, results showed that higher time management skills and students’ attitudes
towards their own time management scores, did better academically than those with lower skills
and attitudes. Furthermore, they concluded these time management components were strong
predictors of college grade point average (Britton & Tesser, 1991). Although the study is dated,
these findings were consistent with recent research conducted by Tanriogen and Işcan (2009) and
Pehlivian (2013).
Similar to Britton and Tesser, Pehlivan examined undergraduate students’ time
management skills and their course grades. However, the study consisted of a larger sample size
(168), substantially different location (Turkey), and participants were majoring in public
administration. Nonetheless, Pehilvan’s findings were consistent with Britton and Tesser
findings. A significant positive relationship between grade point averages and the time attitudes
scores and a significant positive relationship between grade point averages and long-range
planning were found. In addition, both of the studies suggested relationships between grade point
average and short range planning but not to a significant level (Britton & Tesser, 1991; Pehlivan,
2013). Tanriogen and Iscan’s study in 2009 also suggested that time management skills
influenced academic achievement. The research sample consisted of 375 students in a university
located in Turkey and they examined time management skills and their effects on academic
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achievement. Their results showed time management skill levels accounted for 7.9 percent of
total variance in academic achievement. Their analysis also concluded that time planning skills
accounts for 4.7 of total variance in academic achievement which indicates that time planning
impacts academic achievement to nearly 5 percent in relation to the other factors that impact
academic performance. It was also found that student’s time management attitudes explained 3.8
of total variance (Tanriogen & Iscan’s 2009).
Britton and Tesser’s work also provided a valid instrument for measuring time
management skills. To generate their questionnaire, they looked at theoretical models that looked
at time management practices and productivity. Items examined in the practices consisted of
choosing goals and subgoals, prioritizing them as well as listing the tests and scheduling the task.
In the end, they concluded time management was best measured by three components, short
range planning, time attitude and long range planning. This questionnaire was used in studies
conducted by Eldelekliogu (2008), Pehlivan (2013) and Tanriogen and Iscan (2009).
These studies provide excellent evidence for the importance of time management on
academic achievement and why universities and colleges should set up courses and/or workshops
on time management so students can be more successful. In the end, the benefits of conducting
these far outweigh the costs to accomplish this task.
Time Management’s Effect On College Student’s Stress
Since the general body of literature suggests that higher time management skills are
correlated with higher academic performance, researchers have also investigated the influences
of time management on stress and anxiety of students. A study that specifically looked at time
management’s impact on stress was Eldelklioglu’s study (2008) which examined the relationship
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of time management and anxiety in adolescents. From a total of 505 high school students in
Turkey, researchers administered a modified version of Britton and Tesser’s Time Management
Questionnaire and a modified version of Jake’s Gorsuch’s (1964) Trait and Anxiety scale to
participants. The modified questionnaires were translated into the Turkish language since the
study took place in Turkey. Outcomes of the study demonstrated student’s with lower time
planning and a bad attitude towards their own time management tended to have higher anxiety to
a statistically significant level. Based on the findings of studies on time management’s impact on
academic success, it was expected time management was going to decrease the stress levels of
students studies (Eldelklioglu, 2008) which was the case. The results were also consistent with
findings from studies conducted by Misra and McKean (2000) and Macan, Dipboyle and Phillips
(1990).
Unlike Eldelklioglu’s study, Misra and Mckean’s research used Macan et al. (1990)
instrument, the Time Management Behavior scale, to evaluate student’s time management and an
additional three instruments to identify stress, anxiety and leisure satisfaction components.
Instead of only looking at the relationship between time management and academic stress, they
expanded the scope of the study to further include the relationships of anxiety and leisure
satisfaction as well as the original variables. In their study, they discovered time management
had a greater buffering effect on academic stress than leisure activities. Results also showed a
negative correlation between time management behaviors, leisure satisfaction components and
perceived academic stress (Misra & McKean, 2000). These conclusions helped form a rationale
for a part of the hypothesis in the current study which research stating that time management
lowers academic stress. Lastly, the research helped establish that anxiety, time management
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behaviors and leisure satisfaction components predicted academic success to a moderate extent
in relation to other factors that predict academic success.
The study performed by Macan et al. (1990) initially paved the way for future research
(Eldelklioglu, 2008; Misra & McKean, 2000) on time management’s influence on stress and
academic performance. From a population consisting of 165 undergraduate and graduate students
at a large university, they administered seven questionnaires associated with stress. These
included role ambiguity, role overload, job induced and somatic tension, satisfaction,
performance and participants’ type a-b behavior pattern. To measure participant’s time
management behavior, researchers developed a time management behavior scale based on books
on time management skills composed of tips, ideas and techniques to improve time management.
In their data analysis, they reported students with greater perceived time management had greater
work and life satisfaction, less role ambiguity, less role overload and less tension. Students also
described lower satisfaction when demands outweighed their capability to cope with the number
of stressors (Macan et al., 1990). These findings were consistent with previous literature that
feeling in control of the situation is correlated with lower levels of stress as well as validated by
future research conducted (Misra & Mckean’s, 2000; Eldelklioglu, 2008; Akgun & Ciarrochi,
2003).
Summary
Time management has been shown to lower academic stress and enhance academic
performance among students. However, there is a gap of knowledge specifically on student
athletes’ time management skills and their influences on stress. Surujal et al.’s (2013) research
did provide insight for the coping abilities of student athletes and their influence on stress.
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Nonetheless, components that were measured did not include time management. From the
literature on stress, there is an expected consistency on the negative effects of stress on academic
performance and overall health and well being of individuals.
Based on the knowledge of the time that athletes put in at the university level, it’s been
demonstrated that the time athletes participate in in-season activity arguably does impede
academic performance. The research conducted thus far indicates less time set aside for
academics compared to the time spent on athletics. There is also a major lack of literature on
Division II athletics in general with the majority of research focusing on Division I and Division
III athletics. The current study will add to the body of literature concerning student athletes’s
stress and time management skills. This will help bridge the gap in the literature concerning
theses topics. In addition, this will provide helpful tips that coaches and athletic departments can
use. This will aid student athletes through their college experiences and help them achieve
success in both their academic and career life.
CHAPTER II
METHODOLOGY
The overall objective of this study was to determine if strengthening student athletes’
time management behavior decreases their stress levels in order to do better in their academic
and personal life. A secondary objective was to compare in season participation and out of season
participation time management behavior and stress levels to examine if their participation
improves or hinders stress. To attain results to answer these questions, two questionnaires
concerning time management and stress were given to student athletes twice during the semester.
A handout on improving time management was also be provided the first time the participants
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are gathered and they were encouraged to boost their time management skills. The rest of chapter
three will further discuss the study population, the instruments, the methods and procedures as
well as statistical design and analysis.
Population/Selection of Participants
The participants in this study were athletes on the Fort Lewis College men’s and women’s
soccer and basketball teams who had at least one year in college. These teams were picked
because their number of participants was significant enough to draw conclusions as well as the
time frames of their playing season. The number surveyed was 49 participants because this figure
was adequate enough to produce reasonably significant conclusions from the data. The data was
collected within the first nine weeks of the fall semester, 2014. The soccer teams were in season
whereas the basketball teams were still in their off season. This allowed the investigators to
contrast seasonal time management behaviors and perceived stress on student athletes. Freshmen
on these teams were excluded for their lack of exposure to college life to form more accurate
findings of the data retrieved.
To determine whether or not the selected student athletes could participate in the study,
coaches were informed of the study and gave their permission for their players to consent to
participate if they so chose. There were minimum risks in participating in this study and the main
concern was confidentiality. This issue is addressed in the method section of the chapter.
Permission was also requested and granted from the Institutional Review Board to use these
student athletes as human subjects for this research.
Instrument/Apparatus
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This study used a combination of two instruments for the two variables being examined.
The first instrument was the Britton and Tesser (1991) Time Management Questionnaire that was
developed to measure time management behavior of students and has been found to have content
validity (Tanrıögen & Işcan, 2009). Tanrıögen and Işcan tested the reliability of the questionnaire
and concluded that the scale was reliable after data analysis. In their analysis, they calculated the
CronBach-Alpha value to be 0.75 which proved the scale was reliable. This finding was
consistent with Pehlivan’s conclusion of the scale’s reliability from a high CronBach-Alpha
value (Pehlivan, 2013). For the construct validity of the questionnaire, Tanrıögen and Işcan
(2009) calculated the Kaiser-Myer-Olkin value and found the time management questionnaire
was valid with a score of 0.83.
This questionnaire consisted of 15 questions that are equally categorized into three areas
of time management behavior: short-range planning, time attitudes and long range planning.
Participants answered on a point scale that will consist of the responses always, frequently,
sometimes, infrequently, and never. Higher values indicate the superior time management skills
while lower scores suggest lack of time management.
To measure their stress levels, student athletes completed Cohen’s Perceived Stress Scale.
This scale has been widely employed to evaluate the stress individuals have in their lives in the
present. This instrument asked about current levels of experienced stress and how unpredictable
and overloaded participants find their lives. Similar to the Time Management Questionnaire,
respondents answered on five point scales consisting of answers of never, almost never,
sometimes, fairly often, and very often. The Perceived Stress Scale stress scale has demonstrated
high validity with associating higher stress and quitting smoking and the failure to control blood
23
sugar levels for diabetics (Cohen, 1988, Kamarck, & Mermelstein, 1983). Cohen’s, Kamarck, &
Mermelstein research (1983) used the perceived stress for their research and calculated the
coefficient alpha reliability was 0.84, 0.85, and 0.86 for the three samples they tested. T tests also
indicated a statistical significance of (p<.05) for concurrent and predictive validity (Cohen et al.
1983).
In regards to the threats to internal validity, the following procedures attempted to
minimize the threats to validity. During the course, there were no changes in the instrumentation
or the observers which may have produced changes in outcomes. Maturation and history posed a
minimal risk since the duration of the study is five weeks. For selecting the participants, it was
necessary to exclude participants who were not on the teams mentioned above and who were
freshmen in order to accomplish the purpose of the study. However, the small sample size was a
risk of validity. The study also only examined the men’s and women’s soccer and basketball
teams which will only give less thorough results. There is also no control group to see if the
intervention does work. However, there was a question on the second questionnaires
administered that asked the participants how hard they attempted to improve their time
management skills and whether or not they looked at the tips to help them.
Methods and Procedures
The questionnaires were administered to student athletes in the third week and eighth
week of the fall semester in 2014 with the exception of the boys’ soccer team who completed the
questionnaires in the fourth and ninth week. It took place after a team meeting with the coaches
with the coaches predetermined approval to do so. Prior to handing out the questionnaires, the
participants received an informed consent form which detailed that this study was completely
24
voluntary and their responses would be confidential. To protect their identity, each participant
was assigned a random number to match them with responses to their answers on the pre and
post surveys. These coded numbers and consent forms were located in a secure document on a
computer during the duration of the study and were safely disposed of once the respondent’s
answers were matched to their first responses.
Upon completing the questionnaires the first time, participants received a handout that
had time management tips and received instruction from the investigator to improve their self-
regulation behavior to improve their well being. This method was chosen over a workshop
because the principle investigator felt that the workshop would have had few numbers and be
less of interest. Instead of an hour workshop, the time to receive instruction and to complete
these questionnaires took take less than ten minutes. The second time was a little shorter since it
only consisted of participants filling out the two questionnaires and being thanked for their
cooperation.
After receiving the results from the Perceived Stress Scale, scores were summed across
scale items for the teams and individuals. Four scores were reversed because the higher answers
reflect a positive state of handling stress. For the average stress, individuals score a 13 while a
score of 20 indicates the individual is highly stress (Surujal et al., 2013). Scores from the Time
Management Questionnaire were be summed for the teams and the individuals as well. A score
of 58 and above indicates a high level of time management and a score in between 46 and 58
indicates a moderate time management skill level. Scores below 46 reflects low time
management skills (Pehlivan, 2013).
25
Statistical Design and Analysis
SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Science) was used to analyze the data gathered.
The first two hypotheses examined different aspects between time management and stress levels.
The first one investigated relationship between improved time management and the potentially
reduced stress levels. However, the second hypothesis assesses the relationship between the level
of time management and the stress levels of student athletes. To test the first hypothesis, a
Pearson Product moment correlation was conducted to test if the improvement in student
athlete’s time management helped lower stress levels of both in season and out of season
athletes. A Pearson Product moment correlation was also used to determine if there was a
negative correlation between stress and the level of time management skills. An Independent T-
Test for two samples was conducted to test the third hypothesis.
Rationale
Since the first hypothesis was only looking at a relationship between variables, a Pearson
Product moment correlation was needed to determine the strength of the relationship between the
variables. A Pearson Product moment correlation was also needed to test the second hypothesis
in order to see if there was a statistical significant relationship between stress and time
management. With the third hypothesis, the Independent T-Test was necessary to evaluate the
single independent variable (stress levels) and it’s relationship to the dependent variable (in or
out of season).
CHAPTER IV
ANALYSIS OF DATA
26
The purpose of this study was to determine if a student athlete’s improvement in time
management skills lowered the athlete’s stress levels during in and out of season participation. To
accomplish the objectives of the study, time management skills and stress levels were measured
twice four weeks apart. The Britton and Tesser Time Management Questionnaire was used to
measure time management and the Cohen’s Perceived Stress Scale was used to measure stress
levels. In and out of season teams were also used in order to generate seasonal comparisons
between student athletes.
Table 1:Participatant’s
CharacteristicsTable 1 summarizes all of the participants’ genders, sports, ages, their year in
school and whether or not they were in or out of season. Out of the 62 eligible student athletes to
be included in the study, only 13 participants
had incomplete data to use for the study.
Participant data was considered incomplete if
they either showed up to only one meeting or
did not fully complete the questionnaires. The
average age of the student athletes were 20.
Table 1 summarizes all of the participants’
gender, sport, age, their year in school and
whether or not they are in or out of season.
Results
To determine if the first hypothesis was accepted, correlations were conducted between
the difference in the pre and post scores time management and stress levels. As the semester
Gender N % Season N %Male 25 51%In 28 57%Female 24 49%Out 21 43% Year in School N % Age N %Sophomore 22 45% 18 1 2%Junior 18 37% 19 15 31%Senior 9 18% 20 14 29% 21 9 18%Sport N % 22 6 12%Soccer 28 57% 23 3 6%Basketball 21 43% 25 1 2%
27
progressed, a positive time management difference score demonstrated their improvement in
time management and a negative time management indicated that their time management skills
decreased. Conversely, a positive stress level difference demonstrated that the student athletes
became more stressed while a negative stress level difference indicated that their stress decreased
as the semester progressed. Table 2 shows the correlation between the time management
differences and stress level differences of in season student athletes. It was found that the
Pearson Correlation value was -.400 with a statistically significant value of .035 at a .05 level.
Figure 1 shows the regression line in a scatterplot between the time management difference and
stress difference of in season student athletes.
28
Figure 1: Regression Line Between In Season Time Management Skills and Stress Levels
differences
In order to generate a comparison between the in season and out of season student athlete,
a Pearson Product correlation was also conducted between the differences in time management
skills and stress level of out of season student athletes, shown in Table 3. It was found that the
Pearson Correlation value was -.019 with an insignificant value of .935. Figure 2 shows the
regression line in a scatterplot between the time management difference and stress difference of
out of season student athletes.
29
Figure 2: Regression Line Between Out of Season Time Management Skills and Stress
Levels Differences
Similar to the first hypothesis, correlations were conducted between the pre scores of
time management and stress levels of student athletes as well as between the post scores of time
management and stress levels of student athletes to test the second hypothesis. To form their
initial baselines before the intervention, the pre stress levels and the total sum of the time
30
management skills were measured. Table 4 exhibits the correlation between the pre stress levels
and the time management skills of both in season and out of season athletes. SPSS showed that
the Pearson Correlation value was -.02 with a significance level of .859. Figure 3 shows the
regression line between pre stress levels and time management skill of both in season and out of
season student athletes.
Figure 3: Regression Line Between Pre Time Management Skills and Stress Levels of
Both In Season and Out of Season Student Athletes
31
To determine the impact of the study intervention, the correlations between post stress
levels and time management skills were also conducted. This relationship between the post stress
levels and time management skills of both in season and out of season athletes are summarized in
Table 5. It was found that the Pearson Correlation value increased from -.026 to .029 with the
significance level decreasing from .859 to .841. The regression line between post time
management skills and stress levels of student athletes are shown in Figure 3.
32
Figure 3: Regression Line Between Post Time Management Skills and Stress Levels of
Both In Season and Out of Season Student Athletes
Lastly, an independent t test between the difference in stress levels of in and out of season
participation was conducted in order to determine if student athletes were significantly more
stressed in season compared to out of season. To reiterate what was said earlier, a positive
difference between their pre stress scores and post stress scores in stress levels indicated that the
student athlete became more stressed as time went on and a negative difference in stress levels
suggested that the student athlete became less stressed as the semester progressed. Table 6 show
that in season student athletes actually did become more stressed than out of season student
athletes by more than one point; however, the results on Table 7 show this difference in stress
between in and out of season athletes is insignificant with a significance level of .205.
CHAPTER V
DISCUSSION, CONCLUSION, AND RECOMMENDATIONS
The goal of this research was to examine student athlete’s time management skills and its
potential impact on their stress levels during in and out of season participation. As stated
33
previously, the variables studied were the stress levels and the time management skills of student
athletes as well as whether or not the student athlete was in season or out of season.
Since the study contained an intervention, the Britton and Tesser Time Management
Questionnaire and the Cohen’s Perceived Stress Scale were administered twice during the
semester. The first questionnaires were administered to student athletes in the third week and
eighth week of the fall semester in 2014 with the exception of the men’s soccer team who
completed the questionnaires in the fourth and ninth week. The purpose of conducting the tests
twice was to form stress baselines to make accurate comparisons between stress levels and the
impact of improved time management.
The first time the student athletes were given the questionnaires, consent forms and time
management tips were handed out and they were instructed to improve their time management
skills. Subsequently, the second time the student athletes were given the questionnaires, they
only received the two surveys to fill out. In addition, the same survey was given to the same
participants.
To protect their identity, each participant was assigned a random number to match them
with responses to their answers on the pre and post surveys. These coded numbers and consent
forms were located in a secure document on a computer during the duration of the study and
were safely disposed of once the respondent’s answers were matched to their first responses.
After collecting the data, SPSS was used to analyze it. In order to test the first hypothesis,
a Pearson Product moment correlation was conducted to test if the improvement in a student
athlete’s time management helped lower stress levels of both in season and out of season
athletes. A Person Product moment correlation was also used to determine if there was a negative
34
correlation between stress and the level of time management skills. An Independent T-Test for
the two samples was conducted to test the third hypothesis.
This chapter will discuss the findings and the conclusions of the study. In addition, the
implications from the research will be reviewed and recommendations will be made for future
research on the relationship between stress and time management.
Findings
The results from the testing of the first hypothesis showed that there was an inverse
relationship between time management skills and stress levels for in season athletes. This was the
expected outcome, which stated as time management skills increased, stress levels would
decrease. In addition, the relationship was statistically significant with a significance level of .
035. However, the strength of the relationship between the variables was a weak one with an R-
value of R= -.400. This relationship is significantly stronger than the correlation between time
management skills and stress level during out of season. Compared to in season athletes, the
Pearson Correlation value was R= -.019 with an insignificant P value of .935. These results
indicate the improvement in time management skills are more important to in season student
athletes than out of season athletes for the reduction of stress to a certain extent. With that being
said, the first hypothesis was not supported. The outcome demonstrated that the improvement of
time management only benefited in season student athletes, not both in season and out of season
student athletes. A plausible explanation of the finding could be that the additional time out of
season athletes have causes their time management skills not to be as important as they are for in
season athletes because they simply have more time on their hands.
35
This finding partially aligned with the literature on the association between time
management and lower stress levels (Misra & McKean, 2000; Macan et al, 1990). One difference
that this study assumed was that the amount of free time students had moderately influenced the
importance of time management to the individuals. Thus demonstrating the heightened
importance of time management for time-constrained students compared to students with more
time on their hands (The assumption was that out of season athletes had more free time.
However, this wasn’t verified with the athletes).
After analyzing the test results for the second hypothesis, it was concluded that there was
not a relationship between the level of time management and the stress level of student athletes.
The results showed no correlation between the two variables for both the pre scores and post
scores of the student athletes with significance levels of a P value at .84. The correlation actually
became a positive figure that goes against what the study expected. The previous literature
indicated that students with high time management scores were less stressed than the students
with low time management skills (Eldelkioglu, 2008). In addition, time management was also
associated with higher grades and higher grades for student in turn would decrease stress (Britton
& Tesser, 1991; Pehlivan, 2013). Plausible explanations for this finding are the lack of the
duration needed to complete this study as well as an ineffective intervention for learning time
management skills. More time to explain the importance of time management may have
increased effectiveness. In addition, the limited exposure of the time management tips to the
student athletes could be attributed to this finding. Since participants were given the time
management tips handout one time with no follow up reminders, this intervention was limited.
36
Although in season student athletes did become more stressed than out of season student
athletes as the semester progressed, the independent t tests showed that there wasn’t enough
difference in the results to be significant which in turn refuted the third hypothesis. A possible
explanation of this finding is that other circumstances outside the researcher’s control occurred to
influence the results. Example of other circumstances outside the control of the study includes
family issues, relationship issues, and financial issues pertaining to the student athletes. Another
explanation is by the time the questionnaires were administered, out of season and in season
athletes were already stressed about school and the athletic season. If this survey was taken
earlier in the semester, out of season athletes could have been substantially less stressed than
they were during the third week of school as the third week of school is when reality may hit
regarding to the workload and assignments being due.
With the lack of literature on this specific topic, this finding contributes to the gap of
knowledge by establishing there is no observed stress difference between in and out of season
student athletes. Scott et al provided the basis of the hypothesis with their finding that in season
academic performance was hindered compared to out of season academic performance.
Contradictory to the rationale that the lower grades of in season athletes (based on Scott et al
study) increased their stress levels, the results showed that there was no difference in stress levels
between out of season and in season student athletes. It is worthy to note this study did not
collect data on participant’s grades.
A source of major potential bias was the bias of the participants themselves and their
feelings on time management itself. For some student athletes, time management could be
considered as an important skill to develop and helpful. On the other hand, other student athletes
37
could have thought time management was a waste of time and insubstantial. Student athletes also
may lack knowledge of time management and it’s importance. In addition, another source of bias
could be their confidence level in measuring their time management skills. For example, student
athletes with low confidence could have inaccurately scored their time management skills low
even though they have excellent time management skills.
As always, there were potential circumstances that might have influenced the imprecision
of the findings. Midterm exams occurred the week before the second test was administered for
the majority of student athletes. A possible consequence of this is that student athletes became
more stressed with preparation for midterms and anticipating the results of those exams,
regardless of whether time management skills increased. Another circumstance that might have
influenced the stress levels was lack of playing time and discontentment in being stuck on the
bench for some student athletes. However, these were variables outside the control of the study.
As in any data collection that is “self-report,” the accuracy of the time management and stress
scores were dependent on the honesty of the participants.
One strength of the study was the number of student athletes whom participated in the
study. The target number of participants was 40 because this number was adequate enough to
produce reasonably significant conclusions from the data and the number surpassed the target
figure by 10. Another strength of the sample was that the assessed sample of the research fit the
study’s target population. The study needed NCAA Division teams that were currently in and out
of season when the study took place. In addition, an equal gender ratio was preferred as well as
student athletes who were sophomores and above were needed to participate. Fort Lewis College
38
and their athletes did a great job in helping out with the study to fill these necessary
requirements.
Another strength of the methodology was that there was little difference between the
manipulations as planned and as implemented. One of the two differences was the delayed start
of administering the questionnaires to the male soccer team that made them be a week behind
from the other teams. However, they were still given the same duration of time in between
completing the two surveys. It is worthy to note here that there was no overlap between the two
questionnaires administered because one measured stress level and the other one measured time
management skill. The other difference occurred when administering the women’s basketball
team where a second researcher with their own study administered their questionnaires at the
same time. Nonetheless, the participants didn’t mind and the occurrence didn’t seem to impact
either study’s procedure in any way.
A limitation of the study was the self-reporting measures for time management
and stress levels. Participants may have lacked the introspective ability to answer the question
precisely as well as differing understanding of questions being asked. In addition, the short
duration of the study for athletes to improve their time management might have influenced the
results. Lastly, there was no control group to determine the effectiveness of the intervention.
Examined more closely, the intervention of the study wasn’t as helpful as hoped since the
overall time management skills actually worsened: the total sum of their post score time
management skills decreased 27 points from their pre score time management skills. The
intervention was providing a time management hand out and encouraging participants to read
and apply the information. Barriers to implementing the intervention were the short amount of
39
time student athletes had available as well as the short time to emphasize the importance of time
management. Recommendations to improve the intervention of the study will be discussed in the
last part of the chapter.
Based on the intervention and insignificance of the results, there is low generalizability of
the study. The intervention was not intentional enough to cause an expectation of statistically
significant results. For instance, if student athletes were split into a control group and the
intervention group had a more rigorous intervention procedure, then we would have had a greater
expectation of significant results, making the study more generalizable.
Although more time would have been ideal, the length of the study did work. Five weeks
between pre and post-tests did exhibit the improvement of time management skills’ impact on
reducing stress. It would have been better if all the teams participated in the same weeks to
remain consistent instead of having one team take it the subsequent week after. However, due to
the time constraints of the men’s soccer team, this was unavoidable.
Other questionnaires that measured stress levels and time management could have been
used in the study such as Macan’s Time Management Behavior Scale (Macan et al, 1990) or
Preisler and Aussprung’s Undergraduate Stress Questionnaire (Aussprung, 1992). However,
these questionnaires were not easily accessible and the questionnaires used in the study gave
individuals permission to use them as an instrument for research purposes. Concerning the other
variables that could have been examined, college grades, act scores and high school grade point
scores might have been helpful with providing whether or not their academic background
impacted time management skills. Personality tests could be used to test another variable and
investigate whether the athlete is prone to stress and anxiety due to their own personality traits.
40
Knowing their anxiety disposition or depression history would be a benefit so student athletes’
scores could be adjusted to put all the student athletes’ stress levels in the same playing field.
There was no external motivation to participate in the study for the student athletes since
there were no incentives. Improving their skilled resourcefulness to cope with stress and
adversity was the only incentive to aid in the study. The administration of the tests took place in
the gym for the basketball teams and in the locker rooms for the soccer players. Out of 62
questionnaires that were filled out by eligible participants, only 13 were incomplete resulted in a
79% compliance rate. The male teams had a compliance rate of 82% while the women teams had
a compliance rate of 76%.
Conclusions
Based upon the results of the hypothesis testing, it is concluded that while improvement
in time management may indeed relate to a student athlete’s ability to cope with stress, this
particular study did not completely align with the literature. A student athlete’s level of time
management skills didn’t indicate a direct causation of reduced stress levels although the
literature suggests otherwise. One significant finding in this study was the decreased stress level
by in season student athletes when coupled with increased time management skills. This finding
was supported in previous research. According to the literature (Britton & Tesser, 1991; Misra &
Mckean, 2000; Eldelklioglu) developing time management skills has been shown to have
benefits and positive outcomes for student athletes who desire to improve their self-regulation of
time.
41
Even though this study may be generalizable to other student populations due to good
research methodology, the findings could have been more meaningful if the intervention was
more rigorous. For instance, a more rigorous intervention could have included a control group
and repeated measures. This may have provided more significant results.
Reverting back to the literature (Akgun & Ciarrochi, 2003; Surujal et al., 2013), to best
accommodate student athletes, we should provide them with useful resources like a tutoring
center or a counseling center to help them cope with adverse situations and stress when their
academic and life plate becomes overly full. Time management and individual well-being is
important to possess. However, if student athletes lack the resources or accessibility to
appropriate resources, their overall success may be limited.
Implementations
A primary implementation of this research is that the study is replicable and has validity.
The methodology used is straightforward and simple to follow if an academic professor or
researcher wants to repeat this study. In addition, the questionnaires used were easy to use and
had excellent validity. Despite these strengths of the study, some of the procedures and the
intervention will need to change in order to have more statistical significance. Nonetheless, these
findings help bridge the gap in the literature concerning student athletes stress levels and time
management. It was shown that time management skills had a significant influence on helping
the athletes. Therefore, this helps demonstrate that time management is an important skill to
acquire for leading a successful college experience. To attain the study’s overall long term goal
42
to improve student athlete success in college, this the first significant step to ensure the best
opportunity for student athletes. This will allow student athletes to be as successful as possible
by providing them with useful tools and resources.
Recommendations
Findings from this particular study warrant potentially several future studies. Although
there was not a significant relationship between stress levels and time management skills, this
study could be repeated with a control group, more participants and a rigorous intervention to
achieve significant findings. For instance, in season and out of season teams could be evenly
separated so some teams could receive no intervention while other teams received a more
strenuous intervention. A more strenuous intervention could mean taking a longer time to explain
the importance of time management and more exposure and training in the use of time
management skills. An example of this would be emailing the participants once a week to see if
they are indeed practicing their time management skills. Furthermore, a brief informational
presentation on time management skills could be given to student athletes one week prior to
giving them the intervention to bring awareness to their own time management skills.
Stress and time management could also be individually examined in student athletes in
their season of competition. The impact of season status on time management skills could be
examined if out of season student athletes are more likely to not use their time management skills
compared to in season athletes. In addition, stress levels could be investigated on solely if they
are significantly stressed more in season compared to when they are out of season. Other studies
could also further look at similar relationships between time management skills and grade point
average or stress levels and other coping techniques to deal with adversity. These are only a few
43
suggestions from many studies to enhance our knowledge and understanding of time
management and stress.
44
CHAPTER 6
APPENDIXES
FORT LEWIS COLLEGEINFORMED CONSENT TO PARTICIPATE IN A RESEARCH PROJECT
TITLE OF PROJECT:The influence of time management skills on stress levels of in season and out of season student athletes
NAME OF PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Cathy Simbeck, Exercise Science Professor
CONTACT NAME AND PHONE NUMBER FOR QUESTIONS\PROBLEMS ABOUT RESEARCH:Cathy Simbeck, 970-247-7586
CONTACT NAME AND PHONE NUMBER FOR QUESTIONS\PROBLEMS ABOUT RESEARCH-RELATED HEALTH PROBLEMS:Contact your personal physician or the FLC Health Center (970) 247-7355.
CONTACT NAME AND PHONE NUMBER FOR QUESTIONS\PROBLEMS ABOUT PARTICIPANT RIGHTS OR ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS: IRB representative: Sarah Roberts-Cady, (970) 247-7002]
PURPOSE OF THE RESEARCH: The purpose of this study is to determine if a student athlete’s time management skills and self-regulating behavior impact the athlete’s stress levels for athletes who are in and out of season. The methods for data collection will be the Perceived Stress Scale survey and the Britton and Tesser (1991) Time Management Questionnaire.
PROCEDURES /METHODS TO BE USED:At a team meeting you will be asked to participate and if you choose to do so, you will read and sign this form. After consent you will complete the perceived stress questionnaire (Cohen, 1994) and the time management skill survey (Britton and Tesser, 1991). After finishing the questionnaires, you will receive a handout about improving your time management skills and be on your way. Five weeks later, you will complete the same questionnaires.
RISKS INHERENT IN THE PROCEDURES:There is a risk of your coach and others finding out who has poor management skills and who is highly stressed. To minimize this risk, your coach will leave the room and you will take the test isolated from your teammates. Furthermore, your completed surveys will be put into a manila envelope.
BENEFITS:The benefits of this study are that you will find out about your time management skills and their effect on your stress levels. This can help you to know about your stress levels and develop your own time management skills to deal with your stress in and out of season.
COSTS: There is neither cost nor compensation to participate in this study.
CONFIDENTIALITY:
45
While one cannot ever guarantee complete confidentiality, steps will be taken to prevent anyone from associating your name with the data gathered. Your name will not appear on any of the papers on which the data are recorded, nor will appear in the final research document. The only place your name will appear is on this signed informed consent form. The consent forms will be stored separately from the data. In addition to the researchers, the federal research regulatory bodies and the Fort Lewis College Institutional Review Board may have access to the research records.
LIABILITY: The Colorado Governmental Immunity Act determines and may limit Fort Lewis College’s legal responsibility if an injury happens because of this study. Claims against the College must be filed within 180 days of the injury.
PARTICIPATION:Your participation in this research is voluntary. If you decide to participate in the study, you may withdraw your consent and stop participating at any time without penalty or loss of benefits to which you are otherwise entitled. If at some point during the research, there are new findings that may affect your willingness to participate in the study, you will be informed of those findings.
If these questions bring up issues that you would like to discuss further, the Fort Lewis College Counseling Center has professional counselors available. Personal counseling is confidential and services are free to students on a short-term basis, and the contact information is listed below. The Counseling Center is in 260 Noble Hall, and can be reached Monday - Friday 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. at (970) 247-7212.
Your signature acknowledges that you have read or have had read to you the information stated and willingly sign this consent form. Your signature also acknowledges that you have received, on the date signed, a copy of this document containing 2 pages.
Participant’s Name (printed)
Participant’s Signature Date
Investigator or co-investigator Date
46
Copyright © 1994. By Sheldon Cohen. All rights reserved.
Perceived Stress ScaleThe questions in this scale ask you about your feelings and thoughts during the last month. In eachcase, you will be asked to indicate by circling how often you felt or thought a certain way.Name ____________________________________________________________ Date _________Age ________ Gender (Circle): M F Other _____________________________________0 = Never 1 = Almost Never 2 = Sometimes 3 = Fairly Often 4 = Very Often1. In the last month, how often have you been upsetbecause of something that happened unexpectedly?..................................... 0 1 2 3 42. In the last month, how often have you felt that you were unableto control the important things in your life?...................................................... 0 1 2 3 43. In the last month, how often have you felt nervous and “stressed”? .............. 0 1 2 3 44. In the last month, how often have you felt confident about your abilityto handle your personal problems?................................................................. 0 1 2 3 45. In the last month, how often have you felt that thingswere going your way?...................................................................................... 0 1 2 3 46. In the last month, how often have you found that you could not copewith all the things that you had to do? ............................................................. 0 1 2 3 47. In the last month, how often have you been ableto control irritations in your life?....................................................................... 0 1 2 3 48. In the last month, how often have you felt that you were on top of things?..... 0 1 2 3 49. In the last month, how often have you been angeredbecause of things that were outside of your control? ..................................... 0 1 2 3 410. In the last month, how often have you felt difficultieswere piling up so high that you could not overcome them?............................ 0 1 2 3 4Please feel free to use the Perceived Stress Scale for your research. The PSS Manual is in the processof development, please let us know if you are interested in contributing.
Mind Garden, Inc.1690 Woodside Road, Suite #202Redwood City, CA 94061 USAPhone: (650) 261-3500 Fax: (650) 261-3505e-mail: [email protected] PSS Scale is reprinted with permission of the American Sociological Association, from Cohen, S., Kamarck, T., and Mermelstein, R. (1983). Aglobal measure of perceived stress. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 24, 386-396.Cohen, S. and Williamson, G. Perceived Stress in a Probability Sample of the United States. Spacapan, S. and Oskamp, S. (Eds.) The Social
Psychology of Health. Newbury Park, CA: Sage, 1988.
47
Britton and Tesser Time management Questionnaire (1991):
5 = Always, 4 = Frequently, 3 = Sometimes, 2 = Infrequentl 1 = Never
Short-Range Planning
Do you make a list of the things you have to do each day?
1 2 3 4 5
Do you make a schedule of the activities you have to do on work days?
1 2 3 4 5
Do you plan your day before you start it?
1 2 3 4 5
Do you write a set of goals for yourself for each day?
1 2 3 4 5
Do you have a clear idea of what you want to accomplish during the next week?
1 2 3 4 5
Do you spend time each day planning?
1 2 3 4 5
Do you set and honor priorities?
1 2 3 4 5
Time Attitudes
Do you continue unprofitable routines or activities?
1 2 3 4 5
Do you believe that there is room for improvement in the way you manage your time?
1 2 3 4 5
48
Do you often find yourself doing things which interfere with your schoolwork simply because you hate to say "No" to people?
1 2 3 4 5
Do you feel you are in charge of your own time, by and large?
1 2 3 4 5
On an average class day do you spend more time with personal grooming than doing schoolwork?
1 2 3 4 5
Do you make constructive use of your time?
1 2 3 4 5
Long-Range Planning
The night before a major assignment is due, are you usually still working on it?
1 2 3 4 5
Do you have a set of goals for the entire quarter?
1 2 3 4 5
Do you usually keep your desk clear of everything other than what you are currently working on?
1 2 3 4 5
When you have several things to do, do you think it is best to do a little bit of work on each one?
1 2 3 4 5
Do you regularly review your class notes, even when a test is not imminent?
1 2 3 4 5
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Nellen’s Time Management Handout (2000)
Manage Your Work, Don't Let It Manage You:
Tips for Managing Your Time and Getting Ahead
Goals of Time Management • To be able to have control over your life - manage your time, don't let it manage you!• To be healthier and happier (less stress).
Seven Suggestions for Effectively Managing Your Time1. Be Organized
• Use time saving tools: appointment calendars, "to do" lists, e-mail, answering machines, file folders, etc.
• Have an organized workplace (don't waste time constantly looking for your work).• Use your appointment calendar for everything, including listing study time.• Use "to do" lists for both long-term and for each day/week.
2. Plan Ahead (Schedule it and it will happen!)• Determine how long your tasks will take (do this before agreeing to take on a task!)• Consider whether any activities can be combined.• Determine if big tasks can be broken down into smaller tasks that may be easier to schedule (such
as studying for exams and visiting the library as part of an assignment to write a term paper).
3. Prioritize Your Tasks• Use an A-B-C rating system for items on your "to do" lists with A items being highest priority.• Set goals for both the short term and long term as to what you want to accomplish.• Look at all of your "to do"s to gauge the time requirement and whether additional resources will
be needed to accomplish them (if yes, schedule time to obtain those resources). Don't postpone the small tasks (a sense of accomplishment is good and overlooked small tasks can become larger tasks.)
4. Avoid Overload• Include time for rest, relaxation, sleep, eating, exercise, and socializing in your schedule.• Take short breaks during study and work periods.
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• Don't put everything off until the last minute (for example, don't cram for exams).• Learn to say "no" when appropriate and to negotiate better deadlines when appropriate.
5. Practice Effective Study Techniques• Have an appropriate study environment.• Split large tasks into more manageable tasks.• Read for comprehension, rather than just to get to the end of the chapter.• Be prepared to ask questions as they come up during study, rather than waiting until just before an
exam.• Do the most difficult work first, perhaps breaking it up with some easier tasks.• Don't wait until the last minute to complete your projects.• Read the syllabus as soon as you get it and note all due dates (and "milestone" times) on your
calendar.• Be a model student! (be attentive and participative in class, and punctual, prepared, and eager to
learn)
6. Be Able to be Flexible• The unexpected happens (sickness, car troubles, etc.); you need to be able to fit it into your
schedule.• Know how to rearrange your schedule when necessary (so it doesn't manage you - you manage it).• Know who to ask for help when needed.
7. Have a Vision (why are you doing all of this?)• Don't forget the "big picture" - why are you doing the task - is it important to your long-term
personal goals?• Have and follow a personal mission statement (personal and career). (Are your activities
ultimately helping you achieve your goals?)• Know what is important to you. (What do you value most?)• Have a positive attitude!
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