The Psychology of Sports Injury
From Risk to Retirement

The Psychology of Sports Injury: From Risk to Retirement provides a critical overview of the psychology of sports injury, covering the 5Rs of sports injury: risk, response, rehabilitation, return to sport and retirement.

Drawing on a range of expert international perspectives from the fields of sport psychology and sport and exercise medicine, The Psychology of Sports Injury covers the psychological considerations associated with sports injuries, prior to the onset of injury through to supporting athletes with post-injury retirement. In addition to this injury lifespan perspective, the book features special interest topics including anterior cruciate ligament injury, sport-related concussion, spinal cord injury and the role of coaches in achieving athlete and team medical outcomes. Additionally, case studies provide the opportunity to apply learning from each chapter.

By covering the sports injury journey from risk factors to retirement and including athlete mental health during sports injury, The Psychology of Sports Injury is an essential text for students, instructors, and practitioners in sports psychology, sport and exercise medicine and other related fields.

Part 1. The role of psychology in sports injury risk and injury risk reduction 1. The injury prone athlete: Psychosocial risk factors in sports injury 2. Prevention is better than cure: The role of psychological interventions in sports injury risk reduction Part 2. Psychological responses to sports injury 3. Personal and situational factors affecting psychological response to sport injuries 4. The downside of sports injury: poor mental health in injured athletes 5. The upside of sports injury and disability: Personal growth following adversity Part 3. Enhancing sports injury rehabilitation experiences for injured athletes 6. Believe in your ability to create change: Psychosocial factors influencing sports injury rehabilitation adherence 7. Are you a buffer or an amplifier?: The role of social support in the effective return to sport following injury 8. Seeing is believing: Imagery use during injury rehabilitation 9. Does it pay to pay attention? Making a case for mindfulness-based approaches in injury rehabilitation Part 4. The role of psychology in understanding return and non-return to sport decisions 10. Is my athlete REALLY ready to return to sport? Psychological factors and returning to sport following injury 11. They think it’s all over: Injury-related retirement in sport Part 5. Special interests in sports injury 12. The psychological aspect of anterior cruciate ligament injuries 13. ""It’s my concussion story, and I want it to be heard": Understanding the psychology of concussion experience 14. Spinal cord injury and sport 15. "But I need you to play": Coach influences on athlete and team medical outcomes 16. The coffee break to close the book…Where do we go from here?

Adam Gledhill is Course Director in Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences at Leeds Beckett University, UK. He is a Fellow of the British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences (BASES) and a BASES Accredited Sport and Exercise Scientist. Dr. Gledhill is the Deputy Chair of the BASES Division of Psychology and developed the psychology of sports injury and rehabilitation standards for the British Association of Sports Rehabilitators and Trainers Education Framework.

Dale Forsdyke is Senior Lecturer in Sports Injury Management at York St John University, UK and a Society of Sports Therapists Accredited Sports Therapist. Dale is an experienced educator and practitioner, with 20 years’ experience of teaching on sports injury related courses, research interests in psychological factors and return to sport outcomes, and over 10 years’ experience as an injury practitioner across a range of sports.