Stress and the predisposition to sport injuries

Abstract

Stressful experiences like accidents and close misses produce distinct emotional responses in those going through them. Short-term stressors of this kind make one appreciate the effects long-term stressors must have on one's capacity to adapt and react appropriately and safely to an ever-changing, demanding environment. Acute trauma and injuries are associated with an increased perception of persistent stressful events. Studies of athletes indicate that the risk of injury increases in direct relationship to the accumulation of challenging life change events which demand radical adaptation and coping behaviours from the individual experiencing them. Life change events are situations the individual interprets as overwhelming, threatening, unsatisfying and contradictory. The impact of life change events on psychological dimensions constitutes no simple process; it is complex and multi-factorial. Implications for the prevention and rehabilitation of sport injuries have to be appraised with this back-drop in mind.