Comparison of Brief Videos and Articles to Promote Coping Skills Among Student-Athletes

Abstract

This study sought to determine the efficacy of particular strategies for delivering information about coping skills for stress to college student-athletes. This study analyzed 166 undergraduate varsity student-athletes. Among these participants, 60.8% were female (n = 101). The authors used a randomized controlled trial to compare video-based and text-based interventions designed to deliver coping skills information. Five weeks after the intervention, the participants completed a follow-up survey containing simple self-report questions regarding the memorability, use, and helpfulness of the coping skills information. In general, both strategies led to the use of coping skills by a sizeable proportion of the sample. The participants in the video-based deep breathing intervention were more than twice as likely to use coping skills compared with participants in the text-based intervention (risk ratio = 2.20, 95% confidence interval [1.02, 4.71], p = .03). Overall, the results suggest that both video- and text-based interventions have the potential to promote coping skills.