Perceptions Of Stress, Recovery, And Engagement In Recovery Activities Among Injured And Non-injured NCAA Athletes

Within the athlete population, research has consistently supported the notion that increased perceptions of stress and decreased perceptions of recovery are predictors of injury. Furthermore, anecdotal evidence has implied that engagement in recovery activities could reduce the risk of incurring an injury and/or minimize the time spent rehabilitating an injury. Despite this claim, no research to date has directly explored the recovery activities athletes engage in while injured that may improve rehabilitation outcomes. PURPOSE: To examine the difference between injured and non-injured National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) athletes’ perceptions of stress, recovery, and their engagement in recovery activities. METHODS: 283 (94 male, 186 female) NCAA Division I athletes (20.44 + 1.71 yrs) completed an online version of the 36-item Recovery-Stress Questionnaire for Athletes (RESTQ-Sport-36) to measure perceptions of stress and recovery, and the Assessment of Recovery Activities for Athletes (ARAA) to measure frequency of recovery activities. 37 athletes reported currently being injured and unable to participate in their sport. Mann-Whitney U tests (α = 0.05) were used to examine the differences in the RESTQ-Sport-36 subscales and the ARAA subscales between athletes with and without an injury. RESULTS: Results indicated that athletes with injuries had significantly lower scores on the Being in Shape (Z = -2.341, p = .019) and the Self-Efficacy (Z = -2.029, p = .042) subscales of the RESTQ-Sport-36 than athletes who were non-injured. There were no significant differences between athletes with and without injuries on their engagement in recovery activities as reported on the ARAA. While not statistically significant, non-injured athletes did engage in more recovery activities than did injured athletes. CONCLUSIONS: Significant differences existed in the perceptions of recovery experienced between injured and non-injured athletes, yet there were no significant differences in frequency of recovery activities engaged in by each group. To reduce time lost due to injury, practitioners should encourage injured athletes to engage in recovery activities, especially those that might enhance perceptions of feeling capable and self-efficacious in sport.