Features of coping behavior in injured athletes

Abstract

Coping behavior plays a significant role in the recovery of an injured athlete. Identifying the features of coping behavior can make an invaluable contribution to the development of such a problem as the psychological rehabilitation of an athlete. The objective of this study was to examine the features of coping behavior of injured athletes. The study sample consisted of 279 professional athletes of various sports, who, for the purposes of the study, filled out the following questionnaires: a balanced scale of life satisfaction (basic needs) and a scale of emotional state of E. Diener and a COPE questionnaire designed to measure situational coping strategies and dispositional styles. Depending on the gender, the classification of the sport, the number and severity of injuries, the athlete gravitates towards different coping strategies. We have found a link between the general well-being of the injured athlete and coping strategies such as positive reformulation, emotional focus, and humor. Based on the results of the one-way analysis of variance, we partially confirmed our hypothesis that there are differences in the coping strategies used by athletes representing different categories: gender, sport classification, number of injuries, and severity of injury. The performed correlation partly confirmed our assumption that there is a relationship between the general well-being of the injured athlete and the coping strategies used. Despite the fact that the correlation coefficients showed low values, we believe that this is due to the heterogeneity of our sample.