Help-Seeking Behaviors Among Athletic Training Students in the Clinical Education Setting: A Pilot Study

Context Help-seeking is an important self-regulating and proactive strategy that prepares students to be successful learners. It is particularly important in the clinical education setting, in which students must actively engage in learning. Objective To determine both the type of help-seeking behaviors used by athletic training students in the clinical education setting and the relationship between help-seeking behaviors and achievement in their athletic training program. Design Cross-sectional exploratory study. Setting Online survey. Patients or Other Participants Athletic training students from one Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education–accredited athletic training program. Data Collection and Analysis An online survey was developed using previously validated help-seeking and general self-efficacy scales and several demographic questions. Factorial multivariate analysis of variance and multivariate analysis of covariance and univariate analyses determined differences among respondents' demographic characteristics and other variables. Results A total of 38 athletic training students responded to the online survey. There was a significant main effect for passing/failing of competency exams (Wilks λ = 0.680, F = 3.061, P = .034), semester (Wilks λ = 0.485, F = 6.905, P = .001), and interaction effect (Wilks λ = 0.591, P = .007). Follow-up analysis showed that first-semester students who passed had significantly lower scores for avoidance of help-seeking (M = 1.229 ± 0.282) compared to first-semester students who didn't pass (M = 1.994 ± 0.079; P = .004). Conclusions Students typically engaged in help-seeking behaviors beneficial for learning (ie, instrumental help-seeking). However, students who engaged in avoidance help-seeking had lower achievement scores when measured by the passing/failing of their competency exam at the end of their respective semester. Preceptors and athletic training educators are encouraged to detect the type of help-seeking behaviors students use and guide them to those that are conducive to learning and success.