Citation

McKay D, Broderick C, Steinbeck K. Pediatr. Exerc. Sci. 2016; 28(4): 488-500.

Affiliation

Academic Department of Adolescent Medicine, Sydney Children's Hospitals Network and Network and Discipline of Child and Adolescent Health, University of Sydney.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, Human Kinetics Publishers)

DOI

10.1123/pes.2016-0021

PMID

27705538

Abstract

With the advent of long term athlete development programs and early sport specialisation, the training of elite athletes now spans the period of adolescence. Adolescence represents a period of physical, psychosocial and cognitive development, but also a time of physical and psychological vulnerability. Changes in skeletal and physiological attributes coincide with an increased risk of sport related injury. A window of vulnerability is shaped by the properties of the musculoskeletal system, the influence of pubertal hormones and the lag time between physical and cognitive development. This article aims to challenge the assumption of adolescence as a time of increased vigour alone, by highlighting the presence of specific vulnerabilities, and proposing that the hormonal, musculoskeletal, and neurocognitive changes of adolescence may represent intrinsic risk factors for sport related injury.

Language: en