Self-Care Strategies and Psychological Ownership in Athletic Trainers

Abstract

ABSTRACT Context: Psychological ownership (PO) is a state where an individual feels possession over an object (e.g. PO over the organization where one works, PO over the profession one serves). Understanding PO could provide insight to “vitality of the profession” as defined in the Prioritized Research Agenda for the Athletic Training Profession. Objective: The purpose of this study was to explore athletic trainers' (AT) PO over their employing organization and the athletic training profession. Design: Cross-Sectional Study Setting: Web-based survey Patients or Other Participants: Clinically practicing ATs that were active members of NATA. Main Outcome Measure(s): Demographic variables, Psychological Ownership Questionnaire (POQ), and Psychological Ownership of Athletic Training (POQ-AT) were the primary outcomes measured. Descriptive statistics were calculated for demographic variables, POQ and POQ-AT overall scores, form scores, and dimension scores. Non-parametric tests were used to investigate differences between the POQ and POQ-AT among demographic characteristics. Results: ATs indicated greater PO over the athletic training profession (Z=−3.45, p=0.001) than over their employing organization. They indicated greater belongingness (Z=−9.51, p<0.001) and self-identity (Z=−8.71, p<0.001) and less territoriality (Z=−5.52, p<0.001) and accountability (Z=−5.33, p<0.001) over their profession than within their organization. ATs that supervised others indicated greater overall POQ (U=34372, p<0.001) and overall POQ-AT score (U=36624, p=0.014) than ATs that did not supervise others. There was a difference in overall POQ (H(4)=20.47, p<0.001) and overall POQ-AT scores (H(4)=21.34, p<0.001) between groupings of years of experience. Conclusions: ATs indicate greater PO over their profession than their employing organizations. They indicate greater self-identity and belongingness and less territoriality and accountability over the athletic training profession than over their employing organization suggesting ATs are connecting aspirations and accomplishments with the profession but connecting duty and responsibility to their organizations. Years of experience and supervisor status may play a role in the level of organizational PO.