1995 Volume 8 Issue 2 Pages 30-43
Increased participation in sports has been shown to have a positive linear relationship with athletic injuries. Recent studies conducted by health and sport psychologists have suggested that injured athletes may experience mood disturbances and lowered self-esteem. The purpose of this paper is to survey the existing literature which has examined the psychological effects of athletic injury, to explore recent trends, and to discuss where this type of research is heading in the future. Firstly, athletic injury is discussed as a stress factor which may bring about changes in psychological responses.This topic is discussed by comparing two studies which respectivery employ cross-sectional and longitudinal research designs. In the next section, stage and cognitive-appraisal models of psychological response and change due to athletic injury are presented, and studies employing these models are reviewed. It is been shown that cognitive-appraisal models may be more suitable for explaining the psychological change in injured athletes than stage models. Finally, methodological issues surrounding research of this nature are discussed, and ideas for future psychological studies of athletic injury, such as psychological intervention for injured athletes,are examined.
