I. Vergeer
Exploring the mental representation of athletic injury: A longitudinal case study
Vergeer, I.
Authors
Abstract
Objectives Although ‘injury-related information processing’ has been identified as an important element of athletes' psychological reactions to injury, knowledge of the mental representation of athletic injuries and their fluctuations over time is still rather limited. The purpose of this study was to enhance this knowledge by exploring an athlete's injury-related thoughts, sensations and images throughout the recovery process. Design A prospective, longitudinal case-study design was used. Method The participant was a 28-year old male rugby player who had sustained a severely dislocated shoulder. Eight unstructured interviews were conducted over a period of 20 weeks, while a follow-up interview took place 3 years post-injury. The interviews were audio-taped, transcribed, and analysed using qualitative analyses procedures. Results Four interdependent themes emerged from the interviews: (a) awareness, (b) mental imagery, (c) mental model of the injury, and (d) mental ‘itinerary’ of the recovery process. The temporal dynamics of the recovery process were evident in the flux of attention-demanding properties of the injury; (dis)appearance of images over time; increasing complexity of the mental model; and construction and ‘concretisation’ of the mental itinerary. Furthermore, the role of the athlete's desired self-concept in shaping his inferences, actions and emotions, emerged as a fifth theme. Conclusions The findings were synthesised into a ‘multi-track’ conceptualisation of the athlete's covert and overt injury-related activities over time.
Citation
Vergeer, I. (2006). Exploring the mental representation of athletic injury: A longitudinal case study. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 7(1), 99-114. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2005.07.003
Journal Article Type | Article |
---|---|
Publication Date | 2006-01 |
Deposit Date | Feb 9, 2009 |
Publicly Available Date | Mar 29, 2024 |
Journal | Psychology of Sport and Exercise |
Print ISSN | 1469-0292 |
Publisher | Elsevier |
Peer Reviewed | Peer Reviewed |
Volume | 7 |
Issue | 1 |
Pages | 99-114 |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2005.07.003 |
Keywords | Injury, Mental representation, Mental imagery, Information processing, Physical self. |
Files
Accepted Journal Article
(264 Kb)
PDF
You might also like
Coaching experience: Examining its role in coaches’ decision making
(2009)
Journal Article
Mixing methods in assessing coaches' decision making
(2007)
Journal Article
Movement and stretching imagery during flexibility training
(2006)
Journal Article
Multiple uses of mental imagery by professional modern dancers
(2001)
Journal Article
Downloadable Citations
About Durham Research Online (DRO)
Administrator e-mail: dro.admin@durham.ac.uk
This application uses the following open-source libraries:
SheetJS Community Edition
Apache License Version 2.0 (http://www.apache.org/licenses/)
PDF.js
Apache License Version 2.0 (http://www.apache.org/licenses/)
Font Awesome
SIL OFL 1.1 (http://scripts.sil.org/OFL)
MIT License (http://opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.html)
CC BY 3.0 ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/)
Powered by Worktribe © 2024
Advanced Search