STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF CHANGES IN INDICATORS OF COLLECTIVE EFFICACY IN SPORTS, VOLITIONAL QUALITIES, AND TEAM COHESION WITHIN THE EXPERIMENTAL AND CONTROL GROUPS

Abstract

Background. Collective efficacy, volitional self-regulation, and team cohesion are interrelated but non-identical components of coordinated athletic functioning. An intervention may improve these outcomes only if individual changes are interpreted in the context of team membership. Objective. To demonstrate a statistically transparent pretest–posttest comparison of experimental and control conditions on three normalized psychological indices. Methods. A synthetic dataset representing 218 university student-athletes nested in 24 teams (12 teams and 109 athletes per condition) was generated for an eight-week, four-stage team development protocol. Collective efficacy and cohesion were linked conceptually to the CEQS and GEQ; volitional qualities were represented by a proposed eight-item index requiring external validation. Outcome differences were evaluated using team-level Welch tests, Holm adjustment, and baseline-adjusted models. Results. Demonstration data favored the experimental condition for collective efficacy (between-group difference in change, 6.65 points, 95% CI 2.34–10.95), volitional qualities (10.79, 7.96–13.62), and cohesion (5.31, 1.82–8.80). These values are illustrative outputs, not observed treatment effects. Conclusion. The framework supports a reproducible way to examine psychological change while protecting against individual-level pseudoreplication.