The Psychological Profile of Youth Athletes With Overuse Injuries

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The Psychological Profile of Youth Athletes With
Overuse Injuries

• Chelsea Kasper
• Junior, West Ottawa High School
• Mentors Dr. Scott VanderStoep
• Dr. Kirk Brumels
• Hope College Research Assistant Zachary Huber

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Purpose of the Study

• Much has been written regarding youth athletes,
  injury, and overuse. This literature is largely
  anecdotal. Among other things, this study
  attempted empirical tests of some of these
  claims.
• Warrior Girls (Sokolove), local and national
  newspaper articles

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Method
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Sample

• Convenience sample athletes age 13-18
• 104 participants 51 males, 53 females average
  age 16.0 years

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Procedure

• Consent forms given to athletes either directly
  or in mail
• Offered 15 HollanDollars for their participation
• Athletes returned signed consent forms either in
  person or in mail
• Calls to set up meeting times for athletes to
  take questionnaire (25 mins.) or provide online
  link
• Entry of data into SPSS analysis of data

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Instrument

• Paper and online versions of questionnaire
• 6 sections
• Athletic Profile
• Sports Frequency
• Goals
• Satisfaction with Sports
• Parental Influences
• Reasons for Participation

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Finding 1 Injury Differences

• We asked about athletes experiences with 4
  different types of injuries.
• Muscle/tendon strain
• Sprains/subluxations/dislocations
• Fractures/stress fractures/growth plate injuries
• Orthopedic surgeries
• We found few significant differences in muscle or
  sprain injuries. However, we did find several
  significant differences as a function of whether
  athletes suffered fractures.

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p lt.05 p.052
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Fracture
No Fracture
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plt.01 plt.05
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p.027
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Finding 2 Parents Stress
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Athletes Goal and Perceived Parents Goal
Athletes Goal
Perceived Parents Goal for Athlete
plt.001
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Perceived Parents Goal and Perceived Stress From
Parents
Perceived Stress From Parents
Perceived Parents Goal for Athlete
p.004
15
Perceived Stress From Parents and Number of
Weekend Tournaments
Perceived Stress From Parents
Weekend Tournaments per Year
p.028
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Summary of Findings

• Athletes who suffered fractures played more
  frequently, perceived more stress from multiple
  sources, and were more likely to believe injury
  was part of the game.
• There were positive correlations between
  perceived parental goals, athletes personal
  goals, and stress perceived from parents.

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Acknowledgements

• Help with data collection
• Excel Rehabilitation/Sports Performance
• Hope College Tennis Academy
• Holland Hospital Rehabilitation Services
• Holland Storm Softball
• City of Holland Youth Tennis Program
• Funding support
• Howard Hughes Medical Institute
• Frost Research Center
• Dr. Scott VanderStoep, Dr. Kirk Brumels, Zach
  Huber