The Role of Self-Efficacy in the Antecedents of Climbing Related Injury: a critical review

The identification of psychosocial determinants of injury in sport has become synonymous with the multi-component theoretical stress and injury model proposed by Williams and Anderson (1998). Williams and Andersen (1998) suggest that predisposing and environmental factors contribute to an adverse stress reaction that detrimentally impacts on neuromuscular functioning and increases the likelihood of injury. Climbing is considered to be a high-risk sport which requires individuals to routinely manage increased levels of stress and anxiety. A synthesis of the findings from the critical review suggests self-efficacy may have a duplicitous role in the antecedents of climbing related injury. Firstly, high levels of self-efficacy developed through repeated mastery experience create a robust confidence frame capable of ‘buffering’ the adverse effects of stress and therefore reduce the likelihood of acute injury in climbing. Contrastingly the reciprocal relationship of successful performance and repeated exposure may result in the manifestation of chronic overuse injuries when training loads are not adequately managed. Key Words: self-efficacy; stress, injury, antecedent