The ethical use of technology for clinical and performance enhancement services: Prevalence and perceptions among association for applied sport psychology certified consultants

Sport psychology professionals have increasingly utilized technology for providing performance enhancement and clinical services. Some uncertainty exists amongst professionals to the ethical nature of providing services using technology. The purpose of this study was to survey Certified Consultants of the Association for Applied Sport Psychology (AASP) on the frequency and perceived ethicality of their technology use for providing performance enhancement and clinical services. A secondary purpose was to investigate differences in perceived ethicality between consultants with professional licensure compared to unlicensed professionals. Results suggest overall technology use for service delivery by consultants is low. Technologies used to provide clinical services displayed significantly lower ethical ratings compared to their use for performance enhancement purposes. Differences between licensed consultants and those who are unlicensed emerged for the ethical perceptions of providing performance enhancement services via email, cell phone, and videoconferencing, as well as for clinical services provided via cell phone.