An examination of changes in psychological status across four phases of injury recovery and return to sport: A prospective weekly study of competitive athletes from acute care to return to sport.

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Alexis Ruffault, Marjorie Bernier, Leslie Podlog, Christophe Guegan

Author Information

Alexis Ruffault: Laboratory Sport, Expertise, and Performance (EA 7370), French Institute of Sport (INSEP), Paris, France. ORCID
Marjorie Bernier: Centre de Recherche sur l'Éducation, l'Apprentissage et la Didactique, University of Brest, Brest, France.
Leslie Podlog: School of Kinesiology and Physical Activity Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada.
Christophe Guegan: Centre de Médecine du Sport, Brest Métropole, Brest, France.

PMID: 38650390 DOI: 10.1111/sms.14632

While ample research has shown that sport injuries are associated with poor psychological status, scant attention has been given to changes in injured athletes' psychological status over the full course of recovery and return to sport. The aim of the present study was to prospectively investigate potential changes in injured athletes' psychological status across four phases of recovery and return to sport. A total of 38 severely injured adult competitive athletes (58% female; mean age 24.1 ± 7.18 years) participated in this prospective weekly investigation (n = 319 observations). Athletes' were asked to indicate their current phase of recovery or return to sport (acute care, rehabilitation, adapted training, or full return to sport) after which they responded to visual analog scales assessing post-injury psychological status, including: perceived pain (frequency and intensity), emotions (positive and negative), anxiety (cognitive and physiological), motivation, self-efficacy, and satisfaction. During the acute care phase, participants showed higher scores of perceived pain, and physiological anxiety compared to the other phases. During the adapted training phase, amotivation was higher than in the acute care phase, and self-efficacy was lower than in other phases. At full return to sport, athletes showed less perceived pain, cognitive anxiety, and more satisfaction than during other phases. The present study provides a deeper prospective understanding of changes in athlete's psychological status over the course of injury recovery and return to sport and highlight the importance of monitoring psychological status.

prospective data collection psychological status rehabilitation return to sport sport injury

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Humans

Female

Return to Sport

Prospective Studies

Athletic Injuries

Male

Adult

Young Adult

Anxiety

Self Efficacy

Athletes

Motivation

Adolescent

Emotions

Personal Satisfaction

Journal Article

OpenLB
Open Library of Bioscience