The Psychological Readiness of Athletes After Sustaining an Injury

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to determine if there are differences in the psychological readiness of an athlete when returning to play based on a player’s status on the team (starter v. non-starter) or their severity of injury (short-term v. long-term). A total of 14 collegiate athletes who sustained an injury that withheld them from participation for at least 24 hours were included in this study. The participants completed the Athlete Fear Avoidance Questionnaire (AFAQ), InjuryPsychological Readiness to Return to Sport Scale (I-PRRS), Profile of Mood States (POMS), and demographic information within 72 hours of becoming injured. The participants completed those same questionnaires a second time after completing their prescribed rehabilitation and being cleared to return to play. A total of 10 participants completed both sets of questionnaires and were included in the analysis of data. There was a statistically significant difference between the immediately after injury scores and return to play scores for the AFAQ, but not for the I-PRRS and POMS. There were no statistically significant differences between starters and non-starters for all 3 questionnaires or between athletes with short-term and long-term injuries for all 3 questionnaires. Information about psychological readiness could help athletic trainers create appropriate rehabilitation programs that address an athlete’s psychological readiness and doing so could possibly reduce the athlete’s time until he or she is able to return to play.