Psychosocial Intervention Strategies to Help Athletes Return to Competitive Athletics - Essay Example

Psychosocial Intervention Strategies to Help Athletes Return to Competitive Athletics Introduction Sport injury is one ofthe noteworthy causes of stress that has touching, cognitive and behavioral insinuation for any given athlete. This area has seen an increase in interest of research to determine the role of some psychosocial variables that are mostly affected, in an athlete’s life, and career following an injury. This is because some evidences point to psychosocial concerns as obstacles to a successful entry of athletes into athletics after an injury. These psychosocial concerns that lead to this condition include the anxieties associated with fear of a re-injury and those fears associated with failure to go back to the form before the injury. In addition to this, the feelings of segregation especially from the coaches and teammates, lack of athletic identity and reduced social support also derail athletes during their recovery. Despite the fact that athletic injury is just but a physical event, it is sure to cause much distress in an athlete’s life and career. According to (Wady and Evans, 4) a holistic recovery from injury requires that both the physical and psychosocial variables should be dealt with accordingly. This is because not only do the athletes suffer from these fears of returning to the old past but also the uncertainties that are associated with this return. This paper explores the psychosocial concerns that injured athletes experience and their consequences by focusing on some of the intervention strategies instituted to mitigate the uncertainties. Nature of athletes concerns and effects Anxiety of re –injury Investigations carried out have determined that athletes are usually overwhelmed by injury concerns when nearing the return to sport after physically recovering. However, it has been established that research in this area is still in its infancy, although, re-injury anxieties in part hinder the return of athletes into competitive athletics. In any case, Podlog et al (2011, 37) argues that the anxiety may also increase the chances of actual re-injury. A proposed stress injury model posits that when in a stressful condition, muscular failure and reduced timing and coordination of an athlete is likely to occur due to the evaluation of the threat. In addition, the athlete’s awareness of the threat is likely to limit the peripheral vision and subsequent disruptions in the athlete’s attention that increases the risk of re-injury. The probability of this re-injury is also increased when the athletes have few resources that can be employed in coping and elevating levels of anxiety. These anxieties coupled with injury are also to blame for the post injury performances that are affected negatively. A compelling example is the finding on National football league (NFL) players whose performance reduced after returning to sports following a knee injury. This were observed in the running backs and wide receivers who demonstrated a 33% drop in the activities of rushing and receiving yards, as well as touchdowns after return to sports (Podlog et al, 2011, 37). Pod lag et al (2011, 37) argues this might not be because of the loss of strength or reconditioning but the re-injury anxieties that had affected the attention on the focusing of athletes thus leading to a sense of indecision. Inability to go back to the competitive old self This concern may arise, from the inability of the athlete, to perform the skills in the specific sport thus resulting into loss of physical fitness. This is also fueled by the fact that during this time the athlete was being rehabilitated from physical injury, the other athletes were working on their competitive skills. The time this is most severe for returning athletes is unclear, but some researches carried out determined that these uncertainties dissolve within the first six months after a return to sport (Podlog, et al, 2010, 38). Therefore, this highlights the importance of counting on the physical skills of athletes to rate performance and poise building. Feelings of isolation This normally arises when injured athletes do not receive the desired support from the teammates as well as the coaches. This is because most of them are taken to rehabilitation centers away from the venues of training and competition. The athlete may also alienate from his own body resulting to athletes not performing as required. Subsequently, this negatively affects the athletes mind. This lead to loss of maintenance of athlete’s identity that arise from these feelings of social dislocation (Magyar and Duda, 2000, 384). Others Other concerns include the external pressures on athletes to return to sport and self-presentational apprehensions. Elite athletes are bound to receive pressures from teammates and coaches to get back into sports even before they are physically and psychologically ready. In most cases, this results into athletes performing while still not ready. In addition, all human beings engage in social interactions with the aim of making desired impressions in the eyes and mind of other people. This results into impression management, but because returning athletes may have not demonstrated their physical skills for a long time, they are overwhelmed by the concerns of unfitness. This adversely affects those athletes who are aware of their coaches and teammates’ interests in their upcoming competitions (Wadey and Evans, 9). Intervention strategies Most injured athletes have the aim of safely and successful return to competitive athletics after recovery from injury. However, emotional issues play a significant role in this recovery process. Here, the physical concerns such as joint laxity, instability and strength of the muscles, in addition to staying power. However, the psychological concerns are not also left out from this list of concerns to be taken care of by the intervention strategies. Wadey and Evans (7) assert that the recovery process comes in three phases, injury onset, rehabilitation, return to competitive sport. Research also indicate that this recovery and the subsequent return are associated to the level of partaking of coaches and the specialists helping in the rehabilitation and others who are noteworthy in the nurturing of the athletes psychological needs satisfaction. Injury onset begins at the time the athlete is injured with rehabilitation starting from the time the athlete gets the first physiotherapy treatment. Finally, return to competitive sports begins when one starts the training for competitive athletics. However, its important sports psychology consultants (SPC) get to know that this is not a discrete process, for some athletes oscillate between these three phases with some carrying over. In addition, SPC should be aware of the possibility that some athletes may not go through all the stages and successfully achieve their goal of making a successful comeback (Wady and Evans, 8). During the phase of injury onset, the athlete is more likely to experience many different emotions in cognitive, behavioral and emotional perspective. Nevertheless, this phase is short lived. The responses turn out to be so in tense that the subsequent phases. The prevalent experiences in this phase normally include the clarity in the understanding of the injury as well as the recovery process (Wady and Evans, 9). Some of the prevalent emotions include anger, shock and possible depression. Social support should be most appropriate intervention strategy during this phase (Wady and Evans, 4) The rehabilitation phase is characterized by the athlete’s uncertainty, dissatisfaction and increased possibilities of athlete’s intentions of giving up. This is normally potentiated by the fact that they get worried about the remedy progression as well as the consequent recovery (Wady and Evans, 9). It is during this phase that the athletes experience the most challenges in the recovery process. These challenges include lack of physical capacity to compete and these challenges normally come around this period when the athlete is expediting their recovery and a successful comeback to support. Therefore, the strategies that can effectively work in such a situation are the availability of pertinent sources of support as well as self-motivation (Wady and Evans, 10) During the phase of return to competitive old self and sports, athletes experience varied and complex challenges that hinder their successful comeback. Even though most researches done have determined that athletes depend on the physical fitness, this is not the correct measure (Podlug and Eklund, 2006, 46). This is because physical fitness and psychological readiness are not synonymous. Therefore, some failures experienced by athletes after a return into athletics are sure to be caused by the athlete’s assumption of the importance of psychological inclination (Bianco and Eklund, 87). Therefore, these challenges can well be taken care of by emotional and informational support, in addition to, recreation training and imagery (Sordoni et al, 2000, 230). All these should be directed towards confidence building so that the athlete’s capability of meeting the physical and technical demands is enhanced. Social support Social support typifies social connections that are directed towards inducing positive outcomes in athletes recovering from injury. Bianco and Eklund (2011, 85) assert that social support is a contributing factor to health as well as well being of any athlete who is in the recovery process. This is because the support functions to diminish athlete’s exposure to constant worry and increases the efforts directed towards coping. There are three kinds of support namely; informational support, tangible support and emotional support (Bianco and Eklund, 2011, 89). Emotional support entails behaviors such as listening without judging and providing emotional comfort by being empathetic and showing the athlete that people are by her side. However, it is also noteworthy that the recovering athlete gets to be challenged so that he evaluates his stance, principles and the way of thinking. Another social support is the informational support that is characterized by behaviors that communicate reality where the athletes are made to believe that all the things that are being done are for her success. This also involves acknowledgement of the efforts the athletes make by appreciating them for a task done well. However, this is not complete without challenging the athlete to think in different frames so that they get to be stretched, motivated and led into increased creativity and involvement in the processes of recovery. In addition, tangible support is crucial in ensuring that the athlete makes a successful comeback, and it is characterized by material and personal assistance. This is where the athletes can be offered with financial assistance or a sacrifice of time, kills and knowledge to help him get into the desired state (Gould et al, 1997, 381). Social support activities and messages play a role of meeting instrumental and relational goals respectively. Instrumental goals include alleviation of stress and enhancement of coping while a relational goal involves the institution and continuation of healthy relationships between the athletes and others. The perceived and received supports are related to the main effect theory and buffering hypothesis respectively. The main effect theory emphasizes on the contribution of social relationships to the overall functioning of an individual athlete against the experience of stress. Conversely, buffering hypothesis holds that social support is a coping resource especially during a stressful period, for it adds to improved health in recovering athletes. This is because athletes tend to develop the early support given to them resulting to an enhanced perception about the possible availability of support when needed in the future (Bianco and Eklund, 2011, 93). Coping strategies vary within individuals because, in part, it is a bidirectional transaction between the athlete and his environment and is thought to alter with the circumstances that subsequently alter with individual differences. This is because the environment has a role to play too, for a successful return is associated with an environment that meets the psychological needs of the recovering athlete (Podlug and Eklund, 2006, 45). This self-determination theory, therefore, implies that optimal functioning and competence of a recovering athlete are secured when an environment provides for all the needs required by the athlete. This means that the coping strategies should be implement ted in a strategic manner, for there is a possible burn out if it fails in the short term for the same results are reflected in the long term (Evans et al, 2006, 7). Therefore, it surfaces that the three phase of recovery is characterized by different emotions and feelings, and to effectively deal with this, the athletes should be given the right form of social support. For example during the injury phase, athletes suffer from frustration and anger mainly because of incapacitation and the disruption from normal sport involvement. In the subsequent phase of rehabilitation there are negative feelings regarding the evaluation of the rehabilitation success. This may result into the athlete not adhering to the treatment. The final phase is normally characterized by depression and frustration that normally arise from the impatience that is normally on the increase as regards the return to sport. These feelings and their causes should be dealt with in a unique way both on the individual and the types of feelings at specific phases (Johnstone and Caroll, 1998, 216). Restoration of confidence Many things such as goal orientations affect this process. Others include the manner in which the athlete perceives social support and the sources used in the rehabilitation of confidence. Magyar and Duda (2000, 372) argue that athlete’s cognitive response to injury plays a crucial role in the recovery process after an injury. Given that injured athletes are prone to loss of confidence on whether they will go back to their original form or decrease in self-efficacy, the process of restoring this confidence must be incorporated into the intervention strategies. The social cognitive theory has it that both individual and situational factors affect sources of self-assurance, and judgments regarding the achievability of transition to competitive athletics after the end of the rehabilitation process. This is because self-efficacy is measured and examined by the belief of athletes that they will be capable of meeting the competitive demands of the sport, and achieve the former status. Research indicates that identifying the determinants of self-confidence with term plays an elemental role in allowing; of the athlete to predict the future (This works against taking an overall assessment of self-confidence. This is because most athletes use the rehabilitation progress to judge their possible success on commencement of competitive athletics. However, Podlog and Eklund (2006, 544) assert that negative cognitions of athletes at the end of the rehabilitation process still occur, this is despite the fact that it is typical for most athletes to make a transition from negative sentiments to optimistic emotions as the rehabilitation advances. Therefore, allowing the athletes to use rehabilitation as an appropriate source to judge their performance is a significant step towards self-confidence. This is because it will help the athletes to predict their future performance after finishing the rehabilitation, thus, functioning to enhance self-confidence in the athletes (Magyar and Duda (200, 372). This means that sources of self-confidence are so fundamental that they affect the process of self-assurance re-establishment. Therefore, personal goal orientations and situational social support are the appropriate sources of rehabilitation confidence that work together towards restoration of confidence. There are three types of efficacy that are so instrumental in the injury rehabilitation of athletes includes the task, barrier and scheduling. Task efficacy is involved wit the judgments concerning the capabilities of the individual athlete in the situational context. Conversely, barrier efficacy comes in when the athlete beliefs in his capabilities of overcoming constraints including social, personal or environmental targets to achieve his goal. The scheduling efficacy comes in handy for the recovering athlete, for it enables him to plan and carry out the exercises as the rehabilitation program demands of him (Milne et al, 2005, 151). Given the nature of the barrier and scheduling efficacy to be self-regulatory, they qualify to be subtypes of coping self-efficacy. Therefore as coping self-efficacy functions to envisage exercise behavior, the task self-efficacy functions to influence behavior intention and subsequent commencement of activity. The use of Imagery is also beneficial in restoring the lost confidence (Tracy, 2003, 280). This is because cognitive and imagery is capable of forecasting task effect and coping efficacy that subsequently predict quality of exercise and frequency of exercise respectively. This means that even though they are involved in motivating the recovering athlete, their contribution is different, though, it works for the holistic achievement of the goals (Driedger et al, 2005, 263). Therefore, internal thoughts of any athlete are very instrumental in dealing with their self esteem. This is because the poignant response to events of injury and rehabilitation is capable of bringing out positive outcomes when there is integrated use of the psychological response model that mainly deals with cognitive evaluations (Tracey, 2003, 288). Imagery is also important in restoring confidence where research studies have indicated that most of the elite athletes have been using the motivational aspect of imagery to mount successful competitions against their opponents (Sordoni, et al, 2000, 335). However, both motivational and cognitive functions of Imagery come in handy with ensuring complete recovery of the athletes. This is because in most cases the motivational aspect deals with responses that are goal oriented and arousal as well as effect. Nevertheless, cognitive aspect is concerned with imaging play strategies that can be used in the tactical part of competition (Sordoni, et al, 2000, 329). This is because imagery is produced in the cognitive function of the athlete, and, therefore, by visualizing an object, a scene or a sensation as though it was actually happening, it evokes the physical characteristics of the perceived event and feeling. This function to motivate the athlete hence successful competition and it has been reported to work effectively on athletes just before a competitive event (Driediger et al, 2005, 261). Staying on the right path Even, though, injury seems to a big threat to the athletes when it comes to their physical and competitive old self, it is noteworthy that a positive manages to come through all this misery. This is because, some injuries work to create a renewal in the perspective of the athlete regarding the importance of the sport in their lives (Podluug and Eklund, 2006, 61). This results from the forced rehabilitation that means taking time away from competitive sports as someone recovers. As a result, the athletes get to realize the importance of sports in their life. In some athletes, increased motivations, desire for playing as well as increased competitiveness has been accounted for. However, it is perfect when the athlete resolves to stay on the right path following the successful return to sport. This thrives on the perception of the athlete that after all that one is still capable of achieving the goals he had set in the end (Podlug and Eklund, 2010, 537). Therefore, an athlete who has managed to successfully get back into old self should strive to maintain the form through positive influences. This is because looking into the future has been determined to have enhance motivation, and enable athletes feel good about themselves hence an existence of peace of mind (Tracy, 2003. 287) Conclusion It is noteworthy that the psychosocial intervention strategies are complex, and that they need an appropriate combination to achieve the goal of successful re-entry of athletes into competitive athletics following an injury. However, we have been able to determine that recovering athletes face many psychological concerns such as those of autonomy, relatedness and competency. These concerns arise at all the four stages of the recovery process from the injury phase, rehabilitation phase and that phase in which the athlete returns to competitive athletics. Some of the psychosocial intervention strategies used includes imagery, restoration of self-confidence and social support. In the first phase where the athlete is still suffering from the physical injury, the SPC needs to understand not only the injury but also the athlete, and work closely with them by providing social support. T his goes on well by ensuring that the athlete use the social support to enhance their perception. In the rehabilitation phase, emotional support is highly treasured by the athletes; therefore, the commitment of SPC, coaches and teammates should play a role in ensuring that this is in abundance. The athletes should also be made aware of the volatility nature of the therapy progress, where there are times when the progress slows, and the employment of their psychological skills to get rid of the detrimental effects. Imagery and self-talk should be encouraged, in addition to raising the awareness, of the athletes regarding the positive aspects of the injury experience. Finally, in the last phase of the athlete swinging back into action, the athletes should be provided within the information support so that they should only enter competitive athletics when physically and psychologically ready. This is because being physically fit does not mean that one is psychologically ready. The SPC should also work, on encouraging athletes, to get rid of the unrealistic targets and replace them with real ones. This stage is crucial for many athletes, for any slight mistake might result into a long-term misery. Therefore, if all these intervention strategies are instituted at the right time, and in the right manner, athletic injury will soon be reduced to a realistic occurrence that is bound to happen and should not weigh down the athletes. List of references Bianco, T and Eklund, R. C. (2001).Conceptual considerations for social support Research in sport and exercise settings: The case of sport injury. ‘Journal of sport and exercise psychology’. 23, pp 85-107. Driedger, M., Hall, C. and Callow, N. (2005).Imagery use by injured athletes: A qualitative analysis. Journal of sport sciences. Vol. 24, No. 3: 261-271 Evans, L., Mitchell I and Jones, Stuart. (2006). Psychological responses to sport injury: A review of current research. Pp1-31. Gould, D, Bridges, D., Udry, E, and Beck, L. (1997).Coping with Season ending injuries. The Sport psychologist. No. 11 379-399. Johnstone, H.L. and Caroll, D. (1998).The context of emotional responses to athletic injury: A qualitative analysis. Journal of Sport rehabilitation. No. 7pp 206-220. Magyar, M.T. and Duda, J. l. (2000). Confidence restoration following a sport injury. ‘The sports Psychologist’.Vol. 14: 372-390. Milne, M., Hall, C. and Forwell, L. (2005). Self-efficacy, imagery use and adherence to Rehabilitation by injured athletes. ‘Sport Rehabilitation’.Vol. 14: 150-167. Podlog, L and Eklund, R.C (2006). A longitudinal investigation of competitive Athletes’ return to sport following serious injury. ‘Journal of applied sports psychology’.Vol. 18: 44-68. Podlog, L. and Eklund, R.C. (2006). The psychological aspects of a return to sport following a Serious injury: A review of the literature from a self-determination theory. ‘Psychology of sport and Exercise.’Vol. 8: 535-566. Podlog, L. and Eklund, R.C. (2009). High level athletes’ perceptions of success in returning to sport following injury. ‘Journal of Psychology of sport and Exercise’.Vol. 10: 535-544. Podlog, L., Dimmock, J. and Miller, J. (2010). A review of return to sport following injury rehabilitation: Practitioner strategies for enhancing recovery outcomes.’ Journal of physical therapy in sport.Vol.12: 36-42. Pohlman, M.H., Krushel, R.J. and Ditmar, T.D. (2001) Psychological skills and adherence to rehabilitation after re­construction of the anterior cruciate ligament. J Sport Rehabil. No. 10:165-172. Scherzer CB, Brewer BW, Cornelius AE, et al. Psychological skills and adherence to rehabilitation after re­construction of the anterior cruciate ligament. J Sport Rehabil. 2001; 10:165-172. Sordoni C, Hall C, Forwell L. The use of imagery by athletes during injury rehabilitation. Journal of Sport Rehabilitation.2000; 9:329-338. Wadey, R and Evans, L. Working with injured athletes: Research and practice. Anton, S. and Mellalieu, D. Eds, Professional practice in sport psychology: A review. London: Routledge.pp1-42. Read More