The effects of a life skills program on the social and academic performance of freshman student-athletes

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of participation in a Life Skills program for freshman student-athletes on academic and social performance. Subjects (n = 38) were freshman student-athletes participating in varsity athletics at Western Washington University during Fall Quarter 2010. The treatment group (n = 21) met for one hour, twice a week and completed a Life Skills Seminar Course (LSSC) designed and taught by the researcher. Subjects completed both the Student Adaptation to College Questionnaire (SACQ) and the College Self-Efficacy Inventory (CSEI) at the beginning and conclusion of the course. A two-way ANOVA between-within was used to analyze adjustment and self-efficacy outcomes and means of the fall quarter grade point average were calculated and compared for both the treatment and the control group. No statistically significant interactions were found between time (pre- or post-measures) or groups (treatment and control) of student-athlete adaptation to college as measured by the SACQ or student-athlete college self-efficacy as measured by the College Self-Efficacy Inventory CSEI. No significant relationship between the grade point average (GPA) of the two groups was found although the GPA for seminar participants was 2.98, which was .35 points higher than the GPA for the control group participants. Despite no significant relationships in the measures, student-athletes reported on the effectiveness of participation in the LSSC through evaluations and described the course content as being beneficial to their general knowledge.