L15 - Injury Prevention

Question 1

What is an athletic injury (Blackwell and McCullagh, 1996)?

Answer 1

“Any injury that results in missed practice or competition or alters participation”

Question 2

What is the dynamic, multifactorial model of sports injury etiology (Meeuwise, 1994)??

Answer 2

Internal risk factors -> predisposed athlete -> susceptible athlete -> injury

Risk factors for injury covers first 3, injury mechanisms just injury
Exposure to external risk factors on connection between predisposed athlete and susceptible athlete. Inciting event on connection between susceptible athlete and injury

Question 3

See diagram. But what component of Williams and Andersen (1998) model involves the stress response?

Answer 3

Cognitive appraisals physiological / attentional changes

Intervention typically acts on this

Question 4

Discuss personality characteristics and stress response?

Answer 4

Individuals with personality characteristics that tend to exacerbate the stress response and possess few coping resources will be more likely to appraise the situation as stressful and to exhibit greater physiological activation and attention disruptions.

Psychosocial variables will influence how athletes respond under actively stressful situations, but only if the athletes response itself directly affects injury susceptibility

Question 5

Discuss the stress response component?

Answer 5

Cognitive appraisal physiological/attentional changes

Cog appraisal - demands of the situation, abilities to meet demands, consequences of meeting demands
Physiological / attentional changes - fight/flight response of SNS, narrowing of peripheral vision, muscle tension

Question 6

Explain the stress injury relationship??

Answer 6

Increased muscle tension - fatigue, reduced flexibility, motor coordination difficulties and muscle inefficiency

Attentional disruption - failure to detect task relevant cues, attention of task irrelevant cues

Narrowing of peripheral vision - miss or fail to respond to danger cues

Question 7

Do certain personality types pose a greater risk for athletic injury?? (Williams and scherzer, 2006)

Answer 7

Increased risk : type A, external locus of control, low/high in sensation seeking, defensive pessimism, perfectionism, mood disturbances

Decreased risk : internal locus of control, low trait anxiety, optimism, curiosity, willingness to commit, positive state of mind

Question 8

Describe history of stressors?

Answer 8

• life events stress
  History of stressors - daily hassles
  - previous injuries

Question 9

Discuss life events stress?

Answer 9

• athletes with high life stress are 2-5 times more likely to sustain injury than athletes with low life stress (Williams, 2001)

Question 10

Discuss daily hassles?

Answer 10

• “irritating frustrating demands that occur during everyday transactions with the environment” (Holm and Holyrod, 1992)
• chronic stressors e.g., bad traffic
• (Fawkner et al, 1999) found injured athletes had a significant increase in hassles the week prior to injury

Question 11

Discuss previous injuries?

Answer 11

Previous injury was a better predictor of injury than psychological, psychosocial,physiological or anthropometric factors (Van Mechelen et al, 1996)

Question 12

What are the 3 coping resources?

Answer 12

General coping behaviours
Social support systems
Stress management and mental skills

Question 13

What are some general coping behaviours?

Answer 13

Sleep patterns, motivational habits, taking time for oneself

Question 14

Discuss social support systems ?

Answer 14

• Presences of others whom we know value and care for us and on whom we can rely
• the quality of this relationship is key
• gymnasts with low social support combined Sutherland high negative life events were more vulnerable towards having an injury (Petre, 2002)

Question 15

Discuss stress management and mental skills?

Answer 15

• techniques used to control arousal,concentrate and think effectively under stress

Question 16

How can we help those athletes who are at a “high risk” for an injury?

Answer 16

Modify cognitive appraisal

Modify physical/attentional response

Question 17

Discuss modifying cognitive appraisal?

Answer 17

• thinking patterns (negative thought stopping)
• realistic expectations
• fostering a sense of belonging
• optimal coach athlete communication

Question 18

Discuss modifying physical / attentional response?

Answer 18

• relaxation, mindfulness training, ACT, stress inoculation training

Question 19

Should we screen athletes to discover who might be most vulnerable to injury?

Answer 19

No - tests can be misinterpreted, could create a self fulfilling prophecy

Yes - target interventions to those who might benefit most, better watch for early warning signs

Question 20

What are the implications for injury risk screening?

Answer 20

• take a holistic approach (e.g. Stress reactions, social support, psychological skills)
• possible role of sport psychologist - interview athletes and/or interpret questionnaire scores, educate about coping etc, mobilise social support