Examining mood, coping, and social support in the context of athletic injuries

It has recently been estimated that approximately 17 million injuries occur each year in the United States as a result of individuals' participation in sports or physical activity (Booth, 1987). Unfortunately, there is a dearth of empirically derived knowledge about the psychological processes and behavioral outcomes that follow athletic injuries (Brewer, 1994). This research focused on the psychosocial variables associated with athletic injuries, rehabilitation adherence and physical recovery. Specifically, time changes in mood, coping strategies, and social support were examined following the occurrence of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries among 25 recreational athletes. In addition, the above mentioned psychosocial variables were also examined as predictors of injury rehabilitation and recovery.;Using a repeated measures design, individuals who experienced ACL knee injuries and underwent surgery completed a battery of psychological assessments at five times: Pre-surgery, 3, 6, 9, and 12 weeks Post-surgery. A series of repeated measures MANOVAs revealed statistically significant time changes in mood disturbances, three types of coping (instrumental, negative emotion, and palliative), and rehabilitation adherence with effect sizes ranging from.13 to.22. In general, mood disturbances, instrumental coping, negative emotion coping, palliative coping, and adherence were highest during the three weeks following surgery but declined significantly from weeks three through nine. Significant time effects were not observed for social support or the use of distraction coping, although individuals' perceived satisfaction with their social resources was lowest during the three weeks following surgery.;To examine whether mood, coping, and social support were significant predictors of adherence, a series of multiple stepwise regression analyses were conducted. None of the above mentioned variables were shown to be significant predictors of adherence. Instead, the most reliable predictor of adherence at weeks 6, 9, 12 Post-Surgery was adherence from the previous assessment period.