Abstract
Bandura (1997) proposed that imagery was one way to enhance self-efficacy. The purpose of the current study was to establish whether an individualized Motivational General-Mastery (MG-M) imagery intervention could help enhance self-efficacy among a youth athlete population. Participants included five youth squash players (Mage = 10.80 SD = 1.93) competing in either regional or provincial tournaments. A single subject multiple baseline design was employed spanning 13-18 weeks. Baseline, intervention and post-intervention measures included The Sport Imagery Questionnaire for Children (SIQ-C; Hall et al. 2009) and a squash specific self-efficacy questionnaire. The intervention consisted of daily imagery practice and weekly one on one meetings with the researcher to perform his or her imagery practice. Based on visual inspection of the data points (Beretvas & Chung, 2008) and d1 statistic as an effect size metric (Busk & Serlin, 1992), the results indicated marked improvements in self-efficacy for four of the five athletes. In addition, all but one athlete reported an increase in their use of MG-M imagery from baseline to post-intervention. The results from this study will help researchers and practitioners understand the use of MG-M imagery as a means to improve athletes' self-efficacy.Acknowledgments: SSHRC