Lecture 26: Psychological Responses to Injury

Question 1

What are some possible dangers of not being psychologically ready on return form injury and what does this result in?

Answer 1

Fears and sleep issues

Depression 
Re-injury 
New injury 
Decreased self-confidence 
Decreased performance

Question 2

What did Hemmings and Povey identify as the most common athlete response to injury?

Answer 2

Stress/anxiety

Question 3

In Hemmings and Povey’s research, what were the two most common successful coping mechanisms?

Answer 3

Positive attitude

Compliance

Question 4

Describe the Kubler-Ross grief cycle.

Answer 4

Denial –> Anger –> Depression –> Bargaining –> Acceptance

Denial –> Anger (educating)
Depression (emotional support)
Bargaining –> Acceptance (guidance)

Question 5

Which elements of the Kubler-Roff grief cycle are not common in athletes?

Answer 5

Bargaining & Denial

Question 6

What are the four pre-injury factors that influence stress response to injury?

Answer 6

Personality
History of Stressors
Coping Resources
Intervention

Question 7

What are the two post-injury factors that influence cognitive appraisals of injured athletes?

Answer 7

Personal (Injury, psychological, physiological)

Situational (sport type, social, environment)

Question 8

What are the recovery outcomes after cognitive appraisals have occurred?

Answer 8

Behavioural responses

Emotional responses

Question 9

What are the four types of cognitive response to injury?

Answer 9

Self-perceptions
Perceived benefits
Attributions
Coping Strategies

Question 10

What are the two types of attributions that athletes make for injury?

Answer 10

Mechanical

Behavioural

Question 11

What did Brewer identify about attributions of injury and mood response?

Answer 11

Internal and stable attributions were linked to more positive emotions about injury
Causal attributions are linked range of moods after injury

Question 12

Name 3 negative self-perceptions that can be made after injury.

Answer 12

Loss of social identity
Loss of self-worth
Loss of self-efficacy

Question 13

What two factors have been identified as to why negative self-perceptions can occur after injury?

Answer 13

Degree of psychological investment

Success of previous rehab

Question 14

What did Brewer identify about athletic identity and ACL surgery?

Answer 14

Injuries with slower recovery time led to a greater loss in athletic identity
Athletic identity decreased over the post-op period
Decrease in athletic identity decreased the most in the 6-12 month period after the operation

Question 15

What three perceived benefits of injury has research uncovered?

Answer 15

Personal growth
Challenge
Sport Performance Enhancement

Question 16

How does each stage of rehab affect the temporal patterning of emotional response?

Answer 16

Early stage: frustrated, angry

Mid stage: still negative feelings but more focus on rehab

Late stage: apprehension, worry, fear of re-injury

Question 17

What are emotional factors influenced by?

Answer 17

Personal (Age & investment in sport) and situational factors (type of injury/ environment/ sport type/ social)

Question 18

Name some emotional responses to injury identified by Weinberg and Gould.

Answer 18

Guilt 
Repeated comebacks 
Numerous physical complaints 
Anger
Denial 
Obsession with return date 
Withdrawal from others 
Bragging 
Belief that there will be no recovery

Question 19

What are the four types of behavioural psychological response?

Answer 19

Personal (self-belief/ task-orientated)
Situational (clinical setting/ schedule)
Cognitive (attributions/ self-efficacy)
Emotional (coping strategies)

Question 20

What did Gould et al. identify as common behavioural responses to injury in skiers?

Answer 20

Seeking
Driving on
Avoiding others
Distractions