Personality Traits in Swedish High School Alpine Skier : A Comparison between Injured and Uninjured Skiers

Objective: Prevention of alpine ski injuries is less studied when it comes to psychological aspects. The aim of the present investigation was to study if there were any relationships between some personality traits and alpine ski injuries. Additionally, find out if gender could be a significant factor in these relationships. Methods: 298 alpine skiers (139 males, 159 females) at a Swedish ski high school completed the Swedish universities Scales of Personality (SSP). SSP is a self-report personality inventory containing 91 items divided into 13 subscales regarding e.g. stress susceptibility, impulsivity and sensation seeking behavior. Three groups of skiers were analyzed those without any injuries, with one injury, and with two or more injuries. Results: Injury rate was significantly related to stress susceptibility (p=0,046) with higher values for the uninjured skiers and the lowest values for the group with higher injury rates (for both males and females). No signficant relationships were found between adventure seekiing, impulsivity, and anxiety proness and injury rate. Conclusion: Stress susceptibility seems to be a preventing factor in alpine skiing injuries among skiers 16-20 years old