Presenter: Chelsea Shore, Florida State University 

Session Description: 
The use of sport in the recovery process has gained popular traction in recent years (Page & Townsend, 2018) yet research on how sport acts as a preventative measure remains scarce, especially from a social constructivist perspective. This is an unfortunate gap in the literature, for there is extensive research on drug and alcohol abuse by athletes or in athletics (Ahrens & Butch, 2019; Jones, 2016; Lombardi & Dupain, 2018). There is ample research suggesting exercise-based interventions reduce anxiety and depression (Ströhle, 2009) and specifically how group exercise facilitates improved communication skills (Read & Brown, 2003) and social support (Hillios, 2013). The current study brings together these disparate research areas toward conceptualizing how community-based sport programs can impact college students understanding of substance use, recovery, sobriety and their futures. It was hypothesized that engaging with a sober-active community in the form of a high impact practice, such as service-learning, would "promote capacity building through collective action, develop value systems that support democracy and inclusion, and encourage critical reflection" (Edwards, 2015) in choices made during their college experience.