Tears to the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) represent a serious sport injury that can be physically and psychologically debilitating for athletes. Recovery from ACL surgery is a six to nine month process, though the first four months of rehabilitation represents the key time of recovery. Thus, psychological interventions should occur during these first four months, but then examine athletes' psychological and physical functioning over the longer term. Past research has supported the efficacy of goal setting and imagery in helping athletes during their ACL recovery, and MSC has been shown to help athletes regulate emotions and improve their sport performance. MSC-based interventions, however, have not been examined in relation to injured athletes' psychological functioning and physical recovery. Thus, I examined the relative effects of three psychological interventions (i.e., GS, IM, and MSC) on athletes' post-ACL responses. Overall, I found no significant differences in the effects of GS, IM, or MSC on athletes' athletic identity, confidence in returning to sport, reinjury anxiety, stress related to sport injury, perceptions of ability to cope with injury, and subjective knee functioning. Although non-significant, athletes in the GS group showed slightly larger rates of change in their reinjury anxiety and cognitive appraisal compared to athletes in the IM and MSC groups, while athletes in the IM group showed slightly greater rates of change in subjective knee functioning compared to athletes in the GS and MSC groups. However, these results did not support the original hypotheses that athletes in the MSC group would demonstrate significantly greater outcomes compared to the GS and IM groups.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:unt.edu/info:ark/67531/metadc1707391 |
| Date | 08 1900 |
| Creators | Tomalski, Jenna |
| Contributors | Petrie, Trent A, Blumenthal, Heidemarie, Watkins, Clifton E |
| Publisher | University of North Texas |
| Source Sets | University of North Texas |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | vi, 125 pages, Text |
| Rights | Public, Tomalski, Jenna, Copyright, Copyright is held by the author, unless otherwise noted. All rights Reserved. |
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