Exploring the Relationship Between Stress-Related Growth and Basic Psychological Needs Following Athletic Injuries

Approximately 8.6 million sport-related injuries occur yearly in the United States that cause a variety of physical and psychological outcomes. One positive psychological consequence after injury is stress-related growth (SRG), which is positive change experienced after undergoing something stressful. The aim of the present study was to investigate how the full model of basic psychological needs was related to SRG and explore sources of need satisfaction while injured. SRG and basic psychological need satisfaction and frustration was measured in 93 competitive adult athletes who suffered lower limb sport injuries within the past 5 years. Multiple regression analyses did not result in statistically significant relationships between stress-related growth, need fulfillment or frustration, and injury severity, which mostly was contrary to previous findings. Further, the majority of participants reported that only the relatedness need was satisfied in sport and that personal relationships were the most common source of need satisfaction while injured