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Date of Award

Spring 2018

Rights

Access perpetually restricted to EWU users with an active EWU NetID

Document Type

Thesis: EWU Only

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS) in Psychology: General/Experimental

Department

Psychology

Abstract

Student retention is a multi-faceted problem and a piece of that problem is how involved students are on campus (Tinto, 1993). Involvement in recreational campus sports for students has been related to higher social integration and better college adjustment compared to students who are not involved in those sports (Danbert, Ivarnik, McNeil, & Washington, 2013; Forrester, 2015; Lindsey & Sessoms, 2006; Lindsey, Sessoms, & Willis, 2009; Phipps et al., 2015). The primary purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between social integration and overall college adjustment to involvement in a club sport. In order to assess the effects of club sports this study also examined participants in other student organizations, those who participated in both student organizations and club sports, and students who did not participate in any student led organizations. For this study, the College Persistence Questionnaire, developed by Davidson, Beck, & Milligan (2009), was used to assess the amount of social integration and overall college adjustment. The Sense of Community Index 2 (SCI2) was developed by a community science organization (Chavis, Lee, & Acosta, 2008) and was used in this study to further examine the social aspects of club sports and student organizations. There were 124 participants in this study and 98 were used for final analysis. Of those participants 49 reported being in a club sport(s), 32 in a student organization, 27 in both, and 38 reported not being involved at all. Findings revealed that students involved in a club sport or organization had higher levels of college adjustment than non-participants. There was a positive correlation between a participant’s self-reported GPA and their type of involvement. Students who were involved in both club sports and student organizations reported higher college adjustment compared to students who were not involved. Also, men and women involved in club sports had different levels of college adjustment. The implication is that there is an impact of the involvement in club sports for student’s college adjustment.

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