Steele, R. H., & Wiese-Bjornstal, D. M. (project started 2012, February)
According to Williams and Andersen (1998), specific personality traits, a history of life stressors, and limited coping resources interact to increase an athlete's response to a stressful situation and, ultimately, increase the risk for a sport injury. The purpose of the study is to better understand the interaction between a history of life stressors and personality, specifically perfectionism, and the influence that this interaction has on increasing an athlete's risk for a sport injury. Participants will include National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I and Division III male and female cross country runners. Each participant will complete an injury survey that will assess the number of days of training negatively impacted or missed because of an injury as well as the types of sport training injuries that a participant incurred during the past year. Additionally, participants will complete the Hassles and Uplifts Scale to assess for minor life events, the Athletic Life Experiences Survey to assess for major life event stress, and the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale. Consistent with previous research, individuals who experience a history of life stressors are predicted to be at an increased risk for a sport injury. However, the relationship between life stress and sport injury is hypothesized to be more pronounced for individuals high in perfectionism compared to individuals low in perfectionism. Given the rates of sport injuries, a better understanding of the relationship between the different risk factors that increase an individual's stress response and, ultimately, increase the risk for a sport injury will help guide prevention efforts.
Leave a comment