Playing Tough and Clean Hockey: Developing Emotional Management Skills to Reduce Individual Player Aggression
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LAUER, LARRY L., Ph. D. Playing Tough and Clean Hockey: Developing Emotional Management Skills to Reduce Individual Player Aggression. (2005) Directed by Dr. Daniel Gould. 385pp. Aggression in youth ice hockey is prevalent and has many negative consequences including the possibility of injury (Widmeyer & McGuire, 1993). Multiple antecedents lead to aggression (Bushman & Anderson, 2001), however, emotions and related cognitions are often the precursor. Very few attempts have been made to control aggressive behavior in sport. Therefore, the Playing Tough and Clean Hockey Program is a nine session program created to teach youth ice hockey players emotional management skills to reduce aggressive behavior while continuing to play physical hockey. Four youth ice hockey players participated in a season long (30 or more games per participant) single-subject multiple baseline AB (baseline, program) design study. The study had two purposes, (1) examine the program’s influence on the emotional control, emotional toughness, and aggressive behavior of participants, and, (2) to conduct an evaluation of the program’s effectiveness. It was hypothesized that participants would have enhanced emotional control and toughness (i.e., ability to respond positively in an adverse situation) and would exhibit fewer acts of aggression following the program’s implementation. Participants completed post-game reports after every game assessing their performance, emotions, aggressive feelings, emotion management, and emotional control skills success. Games were videotaped throughout the season to record instances of aggressive and retaliatory behaviors. Results revealed that participants perceived the program enhanced their ability to maintain emotional control and toughness, and play tough and clean hockey. Correlations revealed that across the four participants’ perceptions of emotional control and toughness were often positively associated with tough and clean hockey and negatively associated with perceptions of aggressive hockey. Analysis of on-ice aggressive acts showed that each participant was less aggressive in the program phase, but effect sizes varied with the greatest effects being found with the most aggressive player. Moreover, participants reduced the percentage of time they retaliated to being provoked. Participants felt the program was effective, thus suggesting it as method for teaching emotion management skills to youth hockey players to reduce aggression. Practical implications and future directions were forwarded, especially the need for sport psychology to view aggression as a more complex construct. PLAYING TOUGH AND CLEAN HOCKEY: DEVELOPING EMOTIONAL MANAGEMENT SKILLS TO REDUCE INDIVIDUAL PLAYER AGGRESSION by Larry L. Lauer A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of The Graduate School at The University of North Carolina Greensboro in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy Greensboro 2005 Approved by ____________________________________ Committee Chair © 2005 by Larry L. Lauer APPROVAL PAGE This dissertation has been approved by the following committee of the Faculty of The Graduate School at The University of North Carolina Greensboro. Committee Chair _______________________________________ Committee Members _______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________ ___________________________________ Date of Acceptance by Committee ___________________________________ Date of Final Oral Examination ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This study was completed successfully with the assistance of many people. First and foremost, the program would not have been completed without the participants and their families to which the author is indebted. Likewise, Ian McLauchlan of the Greater Lansing Amateur Hockey Association (GLAHA) deserves special recognition for supporting the program and recruiting players to it. The author is very appreciative of the support and effort provided by research assistants Craig Paiement, Marguerite Pierce, Missy Wright, and Teri Hepler. In addition, Jon Rosin, Jerry Sweet, and Scott Despins were essential in the collection of data. The author also thanks Sarah Carson, Doug Cornish, Jeanine Scrogum, and Tsutomu Fuse for their assistance in the initial development of the Playing Tough and Clean Hockey Program. In addition, the author thanks Drs. Cal Botterill and Peter Haberl for reviewing the program. The author appreciates the effort and time provided by the committee including Drs. Diane Gill, Tom Martinek, and Terry Ackerman. The author extends a special thank you to his committee advisor Dr. Dan Gould for providing tremendous insight, support, and challenge to be his best. Without his mentoring this program study would not have been possible. Finally, the author appreciates and is truly grateful to his fiancée Dr. Amy Reed, and his parents Larry and Sharyon, for their unwavering support over the years. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF TABLES............................................................................................................. ix LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................... xi CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION AND REVIEW OF LITERATURE...........................................1 The Prevalence of Aggression in Ice Hockey.................................................3 Negative Consequences of Aggression...........................................................5 The Confusion Over the Definition of Aggression.........................................9 Sources of Hockey Aggression.....................................................................11 The Hockey Environment.......................................................................11 Learning Aggression...............................................................................15 Emotion in Hockey .......................................................................................19 A Model of Emotion and Aggression.....................................................20 The Functional Value of Emotion ..........................................................21 Anger, Frustration, and Embarrassment .................................................22 Brief Review of Techniques to Manage Anger and Frustration...................25 Review of Techniques to Manage Aggressive Behavior..............................28 A Need Exists to Control Emotions and Aggression in Youth Ice Hockey........................................................................................................30 Playing Tough and Clean Hockey Program .................................................31 Emotional Control ..................................................................................32 Emotional Toughness .............................................................................32 The 3 R’s Routine for Emotional Toughness .........................................33 Need for the Playing Tough and Clean Hockey Program and this Study.....34 Purposes ........................................................................................................35 Hypotheses....................................................................................................35 II. METHOD...............................................................................................................36 The Investigator ............................................................................................36 Participants....................................................................................................37 Design ...........................................................................................................37 Data Sources .................................................................................................39 Post-Game Self-Report Emotion and Feeling State Log........................40 Game Video ............................................................................................44 Program Test...........................................................................................45 Playing Tough and Clean Hockey Program Evaluation .........................45 iv Formative Evaluation of the Playing Tough and Clean Hockey Program.................................................................................................46 Procedures.....................................................................................................47 Participant Recruitment ..........................................................................47 Video Procedures....................................................................................49 Pre-Program Interview Procedures.........................................................49 Playing Tough and Clean Hockey Program Components ......................50 Revising the Playing Tough and Clean Hockey Program into an Individual Program ...............................................................................50 Activities and Exercises to Learn Program Components .......................51 Program Implementation Procedures......................................................55 Data Analysis................................................................................................62 Purpose 1.................................................................................................62 Purpose 2.................................................................................................68