Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Mental Health Among D1 Female College Athletes: Prevalance And Links To Athletic And Academic Performance, Mary Goebel

Honors Theses

Background. NCAA Division I female student-athletes are underrepresented in mental health research; existing research among female athletes tends to focus only on disordered eating and body appearance. This study aims to 1) describe the prevalence of mental health issues (i.e., anxiety, depression, and stress) among female Division I college athletes, and 2) assess the association between mental health issues and the student-athlete experience (i.e., athletic and academic performance).

Methods. This was a quantitative, cross-sectional study that used a self-administered online survey. The participants were NCAA Division I female student-athletes, mainly from the University of Mississippi. Demographics and sample characteristics were …

Calculating Risk: A Scoping Review Of Ncaa D1 Football Players’ Motivations To Play And The Correlation To Demographic Characteristics And Injury Experiences, Kathleen D. Walsh

Honors Theses

The purpose of this research was to investigate the motivations of National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division 1 (D1) football players for playing the game and how these motivations are associated with their socioeconomic status (SES). Further, the research aimed to investigate how the uncovered motivations were linked to injury experiences. The original project was designed as a survey-based mixed methods study on a national scale. However, issues with participant recruitment led to sidelining of that primary research. The research presented is a scoping review of the available literature pertaining to the research question: What is known from existing literature …

Ethnicity, Nationalism, And Football: Exploring The Construction Of Ethnic Identities And Their Manifestations For Athletic Club Bilbao And Celtic Football Club, Kelly Wetherton

Honors Theses

This thesis centers on the construction of ethnic identities for fans of Athletic Club and Celtic F.C. and the two clubs’ roles in evincing nationalism. Utilizing survey data from an online, anonymous survey posted to fan forums, the research aimed to determine which of the three leading theories of ethnicity—primordialism, instrumentalism, or social constructivism—was most applicable to the formation of identities for Basque Athletic Club fans and Irish Celtic fans. The results demonstrated that the theory of social constructivism most closely aligns with the case of Basque Athletic Club fans while the identities of Irish Celtic fans can best be …

Adapting, Overcoming, And Connecting: How College Sports Social Media Responded To Covid-19, Jackson Sepko

Honors Theses

This project, inspired by the researcher’s own experience as a digital media marketing assistant for Ole Miss Athletics, investigates how certain NCAA team accounts grew their social media engagement in the 2020-21 seasons despite the challenges and interruptions of COVID-19. First, metrics from data analytics firm SkullSparks were analyzed to determine which accounts increased their engagement metrics the most or performed strongly compared to their peers. Then, those accounts’ posts were analyzed using CrowdTangle, a Facebook-owned data analytics tool, and using Twitter’s advanced search features to see which posts overperformed compared to each account’s average posts.

From there, with an …

The Effect Of Chronic Alcohol Consumption On Exercise-Induced Muscle Damage In Young Men, Emma Hamilton, Grant Hilliard

Honors Theses

PURPOSE: To investigate the effects of chronic alcohol consumption on exercise-induced muscle damage of the knee extensors in young men. METHODS: Twenty-one males (age 21.9 ± 1.1 yr; weight 183.4 ± 27.6 lbs; height 174.0 ± 13.1 cm) performed 100 maximal eccentric contractions at 30°/sec of the knee extensors using their non-dominant leg. The isometric and isokinetic muscle strengths (60°/sec and 180°/sec) were measured pre-exercise and immediately, 24 h, 48 h, 72 h, 96 h, and 120 h post-exercise. Muscle soreness and plasma creatine kinase (CK) activity were measured pre-exercise and 24 h, 48 h, 72 h, 96 h, and …

"You Play Like A Girl": How Alternative Conceptualizations Of Sexism Impact Attitudes Toward Women In Professional Sports, Kate Wigod

Honors Theses

This thesis examines whether alternative conceptualizations of sexism impact attitudes towards women in professional sports. Specifically, this thesis focuses on the United States Women’s National Soccer Team (USWNT), who sued their governing body in 2018 on the bases of unequal treatment and pay. The choice to focus on this particular team is because these women generate more revenue and outperform the United States Men’s National Soccer Team; two factors that are normally used to justify why female athletes should not be paid equally. To measure sexist attitudes, a survey of 74 questions was administered through Lucid and served as the …

The Effects Of Acute Exercise And Psychological Stress On Episodic Memory, Lauren Koehler

Honors Theses

Research has suggested that exercise has an effect on memory function. Studies have also shown that exercise mitigates the effects of stress. The relationship between exercise and stress in regard to memory function is noteworthy. There has been little research on this relationship in young adults. This thesis discusses the effects of acute exercise on the episodic memory of young adults when they are exposed to a psychosocial stressor. The results of the research study show that acute aerobic exercise before memory encoding or consolidation was not associated with memory function after exposure to a stressor. Future research in this …