Using the Integrated model of psychological response to injury PDF

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Using the Integrated model of psychological response to injury (Wiese-Bjornstal et al. 1998) and the associated evidence base, discuss the main factors that are considered to affect an athlete’s response to injury. (25 marks) The main factors that affect an athlete’s response to injury in the psychological response to injury are cognitive appraisal, personal factors and situational factors. Personal and situational factors are seen to affect the athlete’s cognitive appraisal of the injury. The cognitive appraisal is the challenge versus the threat. This will affect the response. Cognitive appraisal can be linked to the grief response model by KublerRoss (1969). This can be seen because grief is a cognitive appraisal. An example of cognitive appraisal is the sense of loss or relief. This may be linked to the grief response model as it results in the athlete feeling sad and alone. Using the personal and situation factors your cognitive appraisal will adjust. An example of cognitive appraisal is goal adjustment. This is a positive influence on the psychological response to injury. The goal adjustment may result in the athlete’s acceptance of the rehabilitation time and understanding that their goals may take longer to achieve. Another example of cognitive appraisal is the rate of perceived recovery. This may help the athlete understand that they will return to their sport eventually. The athlete may believe they are going to recover quickly which may benefit their psychological response. The personal factors are stuff like the athletes’ identity, coping responses and hardiness. This can be divided down into four sub categories injury; individual differences; demographic and physical (Wiese-Bjornstal et al. 1998). Injury can be seen to affect the psychological response as the severity of the injury could negatively affect the want to return (Wiese-Bjornstal et al. 1998). If the athlete perceives that they are severely injured it may reduce the likelihood of returning and increase the fear associated to the sport. If the athlete feels a lot of pain whilst trying to rehabilitate, they may not fully adhere to the rehabilitation in the fear of worsening the injury. The individual differences may include factors such as personality (WieseBjornstal et al. 1998). This would affect an athlete’s psychological response to injury as it affects their appraisal of stressors. If the athlete has a negative appraisal of stressors, they are less likely to handle the injury in the best way. This may result in the athlete taking longer to rehabilitate as their view on the sport becomes negative. The demographic can include factors such as age (Wiese-Bjornstal et al. 1998). The age of the athlete will affect their response as it may aid how they perceive their likelihood of recovering from an injury. The athlete may also perceive this as the end of their sporting career. Finally, the physical aspect would include factors such as the athletes fitness level (Wiese-Bjornstal et al. 1998). If an athlete has a relatively good

fitness level, they may perceive their recovery from injury to be better. Resulting in a better psychological response to injury. Finally, the situational factors are social support. This can be broken down into three sub categories sport; social and environment (Wiese-Bjornstal et al. 1998). The sport type and level can be a varying factor to the risk of injury (Wiese-Bjornstal et al. 1998). For example, playing a contact sport and a lower level may result in an increased risk of injury as the players may be less educated on performing the correct technique. Furthermore, playing a contact sport at an elite level may also be an increasing factor. This is because there will be more passion involved and often could be more important to win the title. The social aspect would reflect the athlete’s response to injury (Wiese-Bjornstal et al. 1998). For example, an athlete with a good social support network is more likely to recover faster from the psychological effects of injury. Having a good relationship with a coach would further this faster recovery. Finally, the environmental factors would consider the access to rehabilitation (WieseBjornstal et al. 1998). An athlete who has the access to rehabilitation soon after the injury would become more likely to return to the sport and faster. Not only are they getting the physiological help they need to recover, it will also enable them to return to the sport without the fear of reinjury. The longer the athlete takes out from the sport, there is an increased likelihood they may not return. As discussed above, the psychological response to injury has many influencing factors that helps an athlete rehabilitate psychologically and return from their injury. This may result in a decreased recovery time for the athlete to return and continue performing at their sport....