MAKING A COMEBACK: COLLEGIATE ATHLETES AND THE EMOTIONAL RESPONSE TO ATHLETIC INJURY By

The emotional response to athletic injury and the impact that athletic identity, social support, injury severity, pain, type of sport, timing in season, and gender have on the emotional response were investigated. Participants were varsity athletes from St. Mary’s College of Maryland; 199 healthy athletes participated in phase 1 of the study and 27 of those athletes participated in phase 2 of the study following an athletic injury. Phase 1 questionnaires were collected before athletes began their sports season to measure athletic identity, social support, and current mood, in addition to other demographic information. Phase 2 questionnaires were collected within 72 hours of an athletic injury, and again at one-week intervals until the athletes returned to play; the questionnaire measured athletic identity, social support, current mood, injury severity, type of injury, pain, and timing in season. Analyses did not reveal any significant findings between mood disturbance and athletic identity, social support, injury severity, pain, timing in season, and gender; some significant findings not hypothesized did emerge. The current research adds to the understanding of the emotional response to athletic injury in Division III collegiate athletes