The purpose of this article is to describe sport psychology and a model for its practice that is consistent with the training of counseling psychologists as teachers of life skills. Following an examination of the role that sport plays in our society and its importance for the development of identity and personal competence, what is meant by sport psychology and why it is a relevant area of study for counseling psychologists will be specified. A psychoeducational model for the practice of sport psychology, life development intervention (LDI), will be delineated and some examples of sport psychology consistent with the LDI model proposed. Using LDI as a base, dilemmas that counseling psychologists face when doing sport psychology will be considered Finally, some of the training issues for counseling psychologists doing sport psychology will be presented.

This study considered relationships between the intensity and directional aspects of competitive state anxiety as measured by the modified Competitive Sport Anxiety Inventory-2(D) (Jones & Swain, 1992) in a sample of 12 experienced male golfers. Anxiety and performance scores from identical putting tasks performed under three different anxiety-manipulated competitive conditions were used to assess both the predictions of Multidimensional Anxiety Theory (MAT; Martens et al., 1990) and the relative value of intensity and direction in explaining performance variance. A within-subjects regression analysis of the intra-individual data showed partial support for the three MAT hypotheses. Cognitive anxiety intensity demonstrated a negative linear relationship with performance, somatic anxiety intensity showed a curvilinear relationship with performance, and self-confidence intensity revealed a positive linear relation. Cognitive directional anxiety illustrated a positive linear relationship with putting performance. Multiple regression analyses indicated that direction (42% of variance) was a better predictor of performance than intensity (22%).

Mahoney and Avener's (1977) categorization of imagery into “internal” (first-person visual and kinesthetic) and “external” (third-person visual) perspectives suggested a viable means to quantifiably test Jacobson's (1931) finding that “visualizing” a biceps “curl” produced only ocular responses while “muscularly imagining” the same movement just generated localized biceps activity. A significant within-subjects main effect (p < .001) revealed that the internal imagery condition produced more integrated biceps activity than the external imagery condition as predicted by Lang's (1979) bio-informational theory of emotional imagery.

Objectives-To investigate psychological correlates of exercise dependence in experienced and inexperienced bodybuilders and weightlifters. Secondary objectives included measuring social physique anxiety, bodybuilding identity, and social support among bodybuilders and weightlifters. Methods-Thirty five experienced bodybuilders, 31 inexperienced bodybuilders, and 23 weightlifters completed the bodybuilding dependence scale, a bodybuilding version of the athletic identity measurement scale, the social physique anxiety scale, and an adapted version of the social support survey-clinical form. Results-A between subjects multivariate analysis of variance was calculated on the scores of the three groups of lifters for the four questionnaires. Univariate F tests and follow up tests indicated that experienced bodybuilders scored significantly higher than inexperienced bodybuilders and weightlifters on bodybuilding dependence (p<0.001), social identity and exclusivity subscales of bodybuilding identity (p<0.001), and social support scales (p<.001), and significantly lower on social physique anxiety (p<0.001). Conclusion-Experienced bodybuilders exhibit more exercise dependence, show greater social support behaviour, and experience less social physique anxiety than inexperienced bodybuilders and weightlifters. (Br J Sports Med 2000;34:431-435)

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