CHAPTER 2 PSYCHOLOGY 310: SPORT & INJURY PSYCHOLOGY UNIVERSITY OF MARY INSTRUCTOR: DR. THERESA MAGELKY SPRING 2016 Psychological Antecedents to Sport Injury

Psychological factors that influence the onset of sport injury Psychological factors that may predispose an individual to sport-related injury Psychological factors that may increase sport injury occurrence Psychological factors that may prevent injury or lessen the impact of injury (protective factors)

The Stress and Injury Model Most dominant theory guiding research on psychology of sport injury and prevention Developed by Andersen and Williams, 1988 Developed to organize research and direct future interest by explaining psychological factors underlying occurrence of sport injuries Likelihood of injury will be influenced by athlete’s perception of stress in a given situation Presumption of Model: An athlete’s personality, stress history, and coping resources all impact athlete’s cognitive appraisal of stress  This may either intensify or mitigate their response to stress and enhance risk of being injured

The Stress and Injury Model (cont.) Cognitive appraisal process plays key role in stress reactivity  Involves balance between primary and secondary appraisals  Primary appraisal – reflects the perception of a stressor as threatening and/or harmful with important consequences  Secondary appraisal – involves degree to which individual perceives having adequate coping resources to manage demands of the stressor Athletes who have personality that amplifies stress, history of many stressors, and few coping resources to buffer stress more likely to have cognitive appraisals of athletic situations that heighten stress response and increase risk of being injured

The Stress and Injury Model (cont.) Stress & injury model includes psychological interventions to assist athletes in adapting to stress which might prevent injury occurrence Cognitive-behavioral approach to stress management:  Thought-stopping  Cognitive restructuring Enhance personal control over physiological/ attentional effects of stress  Relaxation  Mental rehearsal  Attention control Training

The Stress Response Stress reactivity is the central link between stress and injury incidence Stress responses may involve disruptions in athletes’ cognitive/attentional & physiological functioning Factors contributing to poor stress response that may lead to higher risk of sport injury include:  Low perceptions of health  Slower reaction times  Peripheral narrowing

Antecedents of Sport Injury Three primary factors that influence athletes’ responses to stress (injury antecedent areas):  Personality  Stress history  Coping resources These factors reflect both risk factors (heighten reactivity to stress and sport injury risk) and resources (protective factors that buffer stress reactivity)

Personality Traits Specific personality traits that enable athletes to view athletic situations as challenging rather than threatening Results in lower stress response and, as a result, lower risk to injury 3 most-researched personality traits relating to stress reactivity and resultant injury:  Anxiety  Locus of Control  Mental & Emotional States

Personality Traits (cont.) Anxiety  Most frequently studied personality variable correlated with injury onset  Specifically, competitive anxiety – an athlete’s tendency to perceive competitive situations as threatening & to respond with heightened anxiety or feelings or fear and tension  Athletes experiencing competitive anxiety might report the following symptoms:  Racing thoughts, inability to focus, sleep difficulties, loss of appetite, etc.  According to research, athletes who display increased levels of competitive anxiety are more likely to experience a sport injury

Personality Traits (cont.) Locus of Control – an athlete’s perception of who or what is responsible for what happens to them  An individual’s belief regarding how much control he/she has over a situation and the resulting outcome plays a significant role in sport performance and sport injury and rehabilitation  Athletes who focus on uncontrollable factors (have an external locus of control) are more likely to be unsuccessful or suffer injury (e.g., focus on referees’ calls, opponents’ mistakes)  Athletes who see their ability as unchangeable tend to give up more easily in the face of failure.  Athletes who believe they can change and improve, and who focus on controllable performance factors (have an internal locus of control) tend to be more focused, put forth more effort, and achieve more success

Personality Traits (cont.) Mental and Emotional States – associated with injury onset  Mood, anger, and Type A have been most researched  Athletes who report negative mood states (e.g., anxiety) appear to be more likely to become injured or to sustain more severe injuries  Athletes with higher levels of negative mood or overall mood disturbance (e.g., anxiety, depression) appear more likely to be injured  However, positive (desirable) mood states have also been associated with injury (e.g., energy, low anger)

Stress History Of the 3 antecedents in the stress and injury model, stress history has been researched the most Stress history related to injury involves:  Major life events – there is a clear & consistent relationship between life event stress and injury  Daily hassles (minor life events) – these occur more frequently than major events and can create demands for resources and influence reaction to stress  Prior injury history – an athlete’s injury history, and current injury status, also contribute to the stress-injury relationship  Study by van Mechelen at al. (1996) found that athletes with prior injury were more than 9 times as likely to become injured than athletes with no injury history  Prior injury history was also found to be strong predictor for multiple psychological and physical risk factors

Coping Resources Coping resources include an athlete’s personal & environmental strengths and vulnerabilities in managing the demands of stress  Internal factors such as general coping behaviors  E.g., self-care, sleep, nutrition  Psychological coping or mental skills  E.g., management of thoughts, energy/emotion, attention/focus  External factors  E.g., social support Research indicates athletes with high life stress and low social support are most vulnerable to injury High social support found to protect athletes from injury

Psychological Interventions The use of psychological interventions to prevent athletic injury This area has received the least research attention Psychological intervention studies have mainly focused on cognitive-behavioral techniques (CBT) of stress management  E.g., Athletes’ cognitive appraisals and stress-response symptoms  Skills training to enhance self-awareness, reduce negative effects of stress, and promote self-regulation and self-control Research thus far provides strong support for psychological interventions for athletes to alleviate negative health- related consequences of sport participation

Service Delivery In order to ensure ethical, safe, and effective services, psychological intervention should only be provided by appropriately trained professionals (as is the case for all areas of psychology) These professionals should hold credentials from governing sport psychology organizations, state, and/or national regulatory boards for sport psychologists

References Arvinen-Barrow, M., & Walker, N. (2013). The Psychology of Sport Injury and Rehabilitation (1 st ed.). Routledege. Kremer, J., Moran, A., Walker, G., & Craig. C. (2012). Key Concepts in Sport Psychology. Sage Publishing. Murphy. S. (2005). The Sport Psych Handbook. Human Kinetics.