Sport And Exercise Psychology: A Critical Introduction

uncertainty in the situation (e.g., is there much consensus among medical specialists
about the nature and prognosis of the injury?) and the amount of perceived control the
injured athlete can exert over his or her physical setback. Taking these factors into
consideration, appraisal theorists propose that athletes with a history of injuries, a way of
looking at things pessimistically and a lack of coping resources will be most at risk for
slow recovery from whatever injuries they experience. In summary, cognitive appraisal
theorists suggest that the way in which athletes interpret their injury determines not only
their emotional response to it but also the degree to which they adhere to prescribed
rehabilitation programmes.
Theoretically, the psychological variables which determine an athlete’s emotional and
behavioural reactions to injury fall into three main categories. First, “personal” factors
include such variables as whether or not the performer has experienced a similar injury
before, his or her motivation and the way in which s/he typically copes with stress in
general. Second, “situational” influences include the level at which the athlete competes,
the time of the season in which the injury occurred and the amount of social support
available to the injured athlete. Finally, cognitive appraisal characteristics include the
athlete’s ability to perceive the injury experience as manageable and to identify the
specific challenges that lie ahead. Interestingly, there is some evidence that cognitive
appraisal is affected by situational factors such as the type of injury incurred by the sports
performer. For example, athletes are more likely to experience post-traumatic reactive
distress when the injuries are acute, severe and relatively uncommon (Brewer, 2001a). A
generic cognitive appraisal model of athletes’ injury reactions is presented in Figure 9.2.
According to this model, personal and situational factors interact with cognitive and
emotional factors to influence the way in which sport performers respond to injuries. In
other words, athletes’ emotional reactions to physical trauma are influenced by a
combination of “pre-injury” variables such as their history of previous injuries,
motivation, and coping skills, and various “post-injury” factors like the way in which
they perceive the nature and implications of the injury. This model does not take account
of possible gender differences in athletes’ reactions to injury, however (see Box 9.4).

Box 9.4 Thinking critically about...the role of gender in athletes’

reactions to injury

Are there gender differences in the way in which athletes react to injuries? In an effort to
answer this question, Granito (2002) interviewed thirty-one intercollegiate athletes
(fifteen males and sixteen females) about their experiences of sports injuries. Results
revealed differences between the male and female athletes in three key areas. First, the
female athletes tended to be less satisfied than their male counterparts with regard to their
post-injury relationship with their coaches. For example, many of the female performers
felt ignored by their coaches after the injury had occurred. Also, they reported feeling
unhappy about an apparent lack of sympathy from their coaches. Second, by contrast
with the men interviewed, few of the female athletes in the study felt that they had
received sufficient emotional support from their partners, friends and/or from family
members. Finally, the female athletes in this study were more likely than the males to
express concern over how their injuries might affect their future health.

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