Athletic Identity and Academic Self-Concept in Adolescent Basketball Campers

Background/Purpose: The academic achievement and athletic identity of college athletes is a source of interest in recent research (Bimper, 2012; Harrison, et.al, 2011; Singer, 2008). These studies and others indicate that athletic identity and academic self-concept of revenue producing sport student athletes vary by race. Athletic identity tends to be elevated in African American student athletes, while academic self-concept is elevated in White student athletes. Such differences are supported by studies revealing elevated grade point averages and graduation rates in White student athletes. To date this work has concentrated on collegiate student athletes and the racial differences. However, where are these differences developed and are they manifested before matriculation into college? This study will bring into focus the athletic identity and academic self-concept of adolescent boys enrolled in a basketball camp.

Method: The participants were 282 male student athletes ages 8-18 years, enrolled in a basketball camp sponsored by a large university in the southeastern U.S. During camp registration, participants were administered the Athlete Survey which consisted of demographic information, the Athletic Identity Measurement Scale (AIMS) (Brewer & Cornelius, 2001) and a modified version of the Academic Self-Concept Scale (ASCS) (Reynolds et al., 1980). The ASCS was only slightly modified to improve readability for young participants.

Analysis/Results:

Cronbach’s alpha for the AIMS was a moderate (.76) and the ASCS was strong (.91). The multivariate analysis of the AIMS and ASCS by race revealed a significant main effect [Wilk’s Lambda = .84, F_(10,532) =4.905, p=0.00) with a small effect size (Eta sq=.08). The post hoc test indicated that the difference was caused by academic-self-concept. African American group had significant higher ASCS than other minority group while no differences were found between African American and White groups. Furthermore, the other minority group had significant lower ASCS score than both African American and White groups.

Conclusions: The results of this study contrast previous studies in which athletic identity (Harrison, 2011) and academic self-concept (Bimper, 2012) varied by race with African Americans displaying higher athletic identity and lower academic self-concept. While this is the first known study utilizing participants younger than college aged participants, it raises questions as to if, and when does the athletic identity and academic self-concept begin to vary. Thus, future related questions are crucial in that they may provide beginning points of interventions to deter the negative influence of overly developed athletic identities and under developed academic self-concepts in minority athletes.