ISSN: 2226-6348
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Student?athletes contend with dual academic and athleactic pressure resulting from intensive training, high?stakes competitions, and academic commitments. In the face of long?term multifaceted stress, self?efficacy and coping mechanisms represent two important psychological resources. For this population, there is limited evidence regarding group?based psychological interventions. A single?group pre?test, post?test, and follow?up repeated?measures design was adopted. Thirteen student?athletes participated in this study, and written informed consent was obtained from each of them. This six?session solution?focused brief therapy group counselling (SFBT GC) was based on the core principles of SFBT. In the sessions, major therapeutic techniques were used, including strength?based exercises to highlight participants' strengths and goals, scaling questions to monitor personal progress, and identification of exceptions to recognise functional behavioural patterns. Greenhouse?Geisser corrected analysis of variance was used to evaluate time?dependent changes across time?points for the study’s outcome variables, including self?efficacy and coping mechanisms. Bonferroni?adjusted exploratory paired?sample t?tests were further conducted for pairwise comparisons. The omnibus time main effects did not reach statistical significance for any measured outcome. Exploratory pairwise comparisons revealed a large statistically significant reduction in passive coping from pre?test to post?test t(12)=?3.59, Bonferroni?adjusted p=.011, dz=?1.00, and this lower level of passive coping mechanisms was maintained at follow?up. By contrast, apparent post?test gains in self?efficacy and active coping proved transient, with scores returning toward baseline levels at follow?up. Preliminary findings suggest that SFBT GC may reduce passive coping mechanisms for student?athletes in the short term, but not self?efficacy or active coping mechanisms. Given the absence of a control group and small sample size, this preliminary investigation cannot support definitive conclusions about intervention effectiveness.
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