The benefits of sports for adolescent boys [1] and girls [2] are well known. Less understood are the short- and long-term effects of sports injuries on a teen athlete's psychological and social life.
A new study in the Journal of Athletic Training provides some clues.
Researchers at A.T. Still University in Arizona found that adolescent athletes with self-reported recent injuries scored lower on quality of life scales measuring physical functioning and pain than their uninjured peers; findings to be expected, since a majority of the reported injuries were sprains [3], strains [4], and overuse [5] musculoskeletal injuries.
Of greater concern are the study's findings that injured athletes viewed their injuries as negatively affecting their ability to fulfill leadership roles important to them - such as starting quarterback or team captain - and their ability to participate in social activities.
Because athletes, especially in their adolescent years, are affected by their identities as athletes [6] as well as their social interactions and family life, the findings speak to the need for a more holistic (whole person) approach in treating adolescents recovering from sports injuries: in treating an adolescent basketball player for an ankle sprain, for example, the overall well-being of the athlete, including the potential impact of the injury on areas of the adolescent's life outside of athletic activities, should be considered.
In light of their findings, the study's authors make a number of recommendations for parents, coaches, athletic trainers and others:
The bottom line for sports parents: we need to do a better job of helping our children recover from sports injuries psychologically [7] and socially, not just physically.
Created December 20, 2009
Links:
[1] https://mail.momsteam.com/node/1977
[2] https://mail.momsteam.com/node/1219
[3] https://mail.momsteam.com/node/285
[4] https://mail.momsteam.com/node/609
[5] https://mail.momsteam.com/node/796
[6] https://mail.momsteam.com/node/1167
[7] https://mail.momsteam.com/node/2581
[8] http://www.journalofathletictraining.org/doi/pdf/10.4085/1062-6050-44.6.603
[9] http://www.nata.org
[10] https://mail.momsteam.com/health-safety/return-to-sports-psychological-readiness-as-important-as-physical-readiness
[11] https://mail.momsteam.com/successful-parenting/sports-benefits-boys-in-many-ways
[12] https://mail.momsteam.com/successful-parenting/sports-benefit-girls-in-many-ways
[13] https://mail.momsteam.com/successful-parenting/youth-sports-parenting-basics/parenting-boys/sports-for-boys-with-benefits-come-with-downsides