Citation

Wadey R, Evans L, Hanton S, Neil R. Med. Sci. Sports Exerc. 2013; 45(2): 387-394.

Affiliation

1University of Roehampton, U.K.; 2Cardiff Metropolitan University, U.K.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2013, Lippincott Williams and Wilkins)

DOI

10.1249/MSS.0b013e31826ea8e3

PMID

22903140

Abstract

PURPOSE: This study examined the direct, moderating, and indirect effects of dispositional optimism on the prediction of, and athletes' responses to, injury. METHODS: A two-year longitudinal design was conducted with a baseline sample of 694 asymptomatic participants (389 men, 305 women; M age = 19.17, SD = 1.69 years), 104 of which subsequently became injured. Logistic regression, Pearson product-moment correlations, and a bootstrapping procedure were used to analyse the data. RESULTS: Findings revealed a significant direct effect (i.e., as optimism increased, the likelihood of injury occurrence decreased) and a nonsignificant moderating effect for optimism pre-injury. Significant direct and indirect effects for optimism post-injury were found. CONCLUSION: These findings have important implications for practitioners who have a vested interest in reducing the likelihood of injury and expediting the rate and quality of recovery from injury. Future avenues of research that include the need to embrace more objective indicators of recovery from injury are discussed.

Language: en