Personality Profiles and Injury Occurrence in a Population of Varsity Athletes

Abstract

Using the stress-injury model (Williams & Andersen, 1998), this retrospective study examined the relationship between perfectionism and injury occurrence among varsity and competitive club athletes. This study also sought to determine why perfectionism may lead to acute sport-related injury by investigating its relationship with other salient injury predictors. Athletes were recruited in-person via team meetings, and online via email. Athletes were recruited from basketball, football, field hockey, hockey, soccer, and rugby. Consenting athletes completed a one-time (pen-and-paper or online) questionnaire consisting of measures of stress, anxiety, coping, perfectionism, and sport-related injury occurrence. Athletes were asked to respond to questionnaires based upon their thoughts and feelings during the most recent (2016-2017) academic season. Study results showed that perfectionistic strivings, but not perfectionistic concerns, positively predicted acute sport-related injury occurrence. Findings and limitations are discussed, and suggestions are made for future research in the sport injury prediction and prevention domain.