Abstract
The prevalence of sports injury among athletes is rather high, suggesting the need to better understand the causes of sports injury, including the risk factors, for preventive purposes. Grounded in basic psychological needs theory (BPNT) and the Model of Stress and Athletic Injury, the aim of this four-wave prospective survey study was to investigate the relationships among basic psychological needs satisfaction and frustration, stress responses, and sports injury. Study variables, including basic psychological need satisfaction/frustration, and perceived stress, were measured using a survey from 112 university athletes at the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd months of the study. Sports injury was assessed using a self-report form at the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th months of study. Results of the Bayesian multilevel analysis showed that basic psychological need satisfaction negatively predicted sports injuries, whereas stress was a positive predictor. In addition, basic psychological need satisfaction had an indirect effect on injury occurrence via stress. However, basic psychological need frustration did not predict sports injury. BPNT is a viable model to provide additional explanations to psychological risk factors of injury. Intervention programs may be formulated based on the evidence obtained on the model.
Highlights
Sports injury is defined as any physical complaints sustained by an athlete as a result of training or competition, despite the need for medical attention or time loss from sports participation (Brink et al, 2010)
Contrary to Hypothesis 2, basic psychological need frustration had no credible effect on sports injury the following month (β = −0.02, 95% credibility interval (CI) = [−0.27, 0.22])
Needs satisfaction to sports injury, and basic psychological needs theory (BPNT) is a viable model to provide additional explanations to the Model of Stress and Athletic Injury. These findings suggest that an intervention program designed for both basic psychological need satisfaction enhancement and stress reduction may be effective in the prevention of sports injury among university students
Summary
Sports injury is defined as any physical complaints sustained by an athlete as a result of training or competition, despite the need for medical attention or time loss from sports participation (Brink et al, 2010). It is common for athletes to sustain some sports injuries. 51% of elite athletes reported at least one sports related injury over the last 12 months in China (Li et al, 2015). Injury rates were around 80% per year among Swedish elite soccer players (Hägglund et al, 2009). Sports injury will result in a lot of negative consequences such as pain, ill-being, poorer sport performance, and increased costs to health care system (Hägglund et al, 2013; Moesch et al, 2018)
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