Repository logo

Browsing by Author "Davis, Samuel R., author"

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    Revisiting motives for college student alcohol consumption
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 2020) Davis, Samuel R., author; Prince, Mark A., advisor; Conner, Bradley T., committee member; Butki, Brian, committee member
    College students consume alcohol more frequently than the general population. Further, exercise participation is frequently positively associated with alcohol use among college students. While exercise has been consistently demonstrated to be protective in several domains, findings from the alcohol use literature suggest there may be exercise-specific reasons for alcohol use. Our aim was to develop and add a subscale proposed to be measuring the desire to drink to simulate the natural high achieved through exercise to the existing Drinking motives Questionnaire (DMQ). We hypothesized that exercisers drink to simulate more than low exerciser and non-exercisers. This study surveyed college students (N = 1,040) assessing several facets of alcohol use, including the DMQ and 10 proposed simulation motive items. Factor analysis was used to discern the number of latent constructs in the model. Invariance testing was used to assess differences in the simulation factor across no exercise per week (non-exerciser group), below 150 minutes (low exerciser group), and at least 150 minutes (exerciser group). Results indicated a four-factor model best fit the data. The four factors that emerged were enhancement, coping, and social motives, in addition to the added simulation motive. Invariance testing suggested configural invariance, indicating the structure of the simulation construct is the same across exercise groups. Further invariance testing and post-hoc analyses revealed metric and scalar noninvariance indicating differences in levels of endorsement of the simulation motive items. Findings provide preliminary evidence that college students drink for exercise-specific reasons and that the endorsement of these reasons varies across exercise. A new exercise-specific alcohol use motive could help inform more targeted intervention and prevention efforts.
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    Seeking or risk: mental health symptoms and associated behaviors in college student-athletes
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 2023) Davis, Samuel R., author; Prince, Mark A., advisor; Conner, Bradley T., committee member; Butki, Brian, committee member; Swaim, Randall, committee member
    College mental health symptomatology is highly prevalent on college campuses across the nation. College student-athletes experience mental health issues at similar rates to their non-athlete peers. However, most colleges and universities do not have formal plans to address their student-athletes' mental health concerns. Considering the heterogeneity in experiences with mental health issues like anxiety and depression, applying person-centered analyses may help discern unidentified subgroups of student-athletes at greater risk of negative outcomes. The present study used latent class analysis to discern unidentified subgroups of student-athletes mental health symptoms and determine whether subgroups were associated with varying rates of help-seeking behaviors, health risk behaviors, and performance-related outcomes. Results indicated that a five-class model best fit the data, and that this model did not fit equally well for a comparative sample of non-student-athletes. Patterns of symptom endorsement within these classes ranged from high endorsement of all symptoms within the past month, to recent endorsement of feeling overwhelmed and exhausted, to no current or past-year mental health symptoms. Subsequent auxiliary testing identified classes of mental health symptoms associated with higher likelihood of engagement in health-risk behaviors and issues that could affect athletic performance. This study represented the first effort to discern latent subgroups of student-athletes characterized by varying experiences with mental health symptoms. Findings from the present study can help identify at-risk student-athletes in need of mental health support to attenuate symptom distress and mitigate negative consequences associated with these concerns. Further, athletic departments can use these findings to integrate simple mental health screening tools already circulating at schools across the nation to better support their student-athletes' mental health concerns. Potential application of these screening tools and treatment planning options are discussed.