Research Proposal - The Psychological Effect of Injury to Women Athletes

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The Psychological Effect of Injury to Women Athletes

             This paper presents a proposal for a study that will specifically investigate the psychological effect of injuries on women. Wiese-Bjornstal and Shaffer (1999) hypothesized that a personal moderating factor to influence the cognitive, emotional and behavioral response is the gender of the athlete. It means that the differences of experience between men and women in sports can influence their behavior toward injuries. Today, women participating in the same sports as men generally have the same type of injuries as their male counterparts (Arendt  et al, 1995). This study will focus on women as they are known to be more emotional than men and tend recall emotional issues better (Recer, 2002; Crossman, 1994). The aim here is to determine if athlete women react more positively, or in other hand, negatively to the situation of being injured. The specific questions will be answered in the study: They are: What type of injury do women usually acquire in sports? How do athlete women react with injuries? Do injuries discourage athlete women to pursue their careers in sports? Do injuries change the attitude of athlete women toward subordinates or team mates? Do athlete women who experience injuries experience negative emotions such as: depression, anger, fear, tension, disgust, anxiety, and panic? What are the ways women cope with injuries? The researcher assumes that women athletes with injuries are more emotional, and more widely being dragged by the frustrations associated with injury and rehabilitation. The findings in this study will be significant in finding new psychological methods in rehabilitating athletic women with injuries. This can also open up future issues for future studies.

Literature Review

Brewer and Petrie (1995) found that injured college football players had higher depression and life stress scores than uninjured players. Also, studies found that there is an increase in mood disturbance for injured athletes (Leddy, Lambert, and Ogles, 1994; Smith et al., 1993). However, these studies consistent with each other, have only focused on male respondents, and did not compare the difference of psychological effect of injury in terms of gender.

            On the other hand, the study conducted by Granito Jr. (2001) focused on both male and female respondents. A semi-structured interview comprised of open-ended questions was used to elicit information related to the athletes' injury experience, and results were recorded in audio tape, which was later transcribed. The study found that the respondents’ response to injury differ in terms of their personality, effects on relationship, sociological aspect (includes gender difference but with no relevant explanation), physical factors (i.e. pain, physical conditioning, etc.), feelings associated with injury (i.e. frustration), and rehabilitation. The study basically highlighted the psychological impacts of injury, but it not made any specific efforts to differentiate them based on gender.

            A follow up study by Granito (2002) was conducted the next year and focus on the gender differences. The study also utilized a qualitative methodology, and with that method, thirty-one injured intercollegiate athletes (15 male and 16 female) were interviewed about their experiences with athletic injuries. The results found differences along three general areas. The first difference centered on the relationship with the coaches following the injury. The female athletes had a greater negative experience with the coaches than did the males (94% vs. 20%). The second difference focused on the extent in which male athletes were more likely to mention the support from a significant other than female athletes. Finally, female athletes were more likely to report concern over how the injury would affect their future health. This is perhaps because women athletes are known for the female athlete triad or the onset of eating disorders, amenorrhea and osteoporosis (Brehm and Burnie, 1998).

According to Farris (1985), emotion such as fear, anger, or depression are normal responses to traumatic injury. This is common to athletes because their ‘worth of playing’ was taken away from them by the injury (Farris, 1985). 

Injury sometimes leads to decreased self-esteem, which can consequently result in irrational thinking (Beck, 1970). When athletes think irrationally, they may exaggerate the meaning of the injury; disregard particularly important aspects of the injury; oversimplify the injury as good o bad, right or wrong; over-generalize from this single event; or draw unwarranted conclusions when evidence is lacking or contradictory (Rotella and Heyman 1986).

            Crossman (1994) conducted a quantitative comparative study regarding the emotional response of male and female athletes toward injuries. Crossman (1994) used four stages starting from the beginning of the injury. Crossman (1994) found that negative emotional responses, such as frustration, anger, and discouragement, decreased from the onset of the injury to returning to play, while the positive emotional responses of being hopeful, and optimistic increases through the stages. Furthermore, females expressed more negative and positive emotional responses throughout each stage, and tended to display more positive signs of returning to practice than the males in the last stage of injury.

Research Plan/Methodology

Primary and secondary research will be utilized in the study. The primary source of data will come from a questionnaire and interviews to be conducted by the researcher. The primary data will give the detailed definitions of terms and statistical units used in the survey. The secondary sources of data will come from published articles from social science journals, theses and related studies on the utilization of the Internet as a communication tool. Acquiring secondary data are more convenient to use because they are already condensed and organized. Moreover, analysis and interpretation will be easier.

The study being proposed will be descriptive in nature. A descriptive research intends to present facts concerning the nature and status of a situation, as it exists at the time of the study (Creswell, 1994). It is also concerned with relationships and practices that exist, beliefs and processes that are ongoing, effects that are being felt, or trends that are developing. (Best, 1970) In addition, such approach tries to describe present conditions, events or systems based on the impressions or reactions of the respondents of the research (Creswell, 1994).

Quantitative research method will be used in the study. It is compatible with the study because it allows the research problem to be conducted in a very specific and set terms (Frankfort-Nachmias and Nachmias, 1992). Besides, a quantitative research plainly and distinctively specifies both the independent and the dependent variables under investigation (Matveev, 2002). In the study, the independent variable is the injury of the female athletes; while the dependent variable is its psychological effects on the athletes.

Survey questionnaires will be used to test the level of response of the participants. It will be structured type and will have two sections. The first part will intend to acquire the demographic profile of the respondents, while the other section will contain a set of attitude statements. The purpose of the set of attitude statements is to determine the level of agreement or disagreement using a five-point Likert scale. In the Likert technique, the degree of agreement or disagreement) is given a numerical value ranging from one to five, thus a total numerical value can be calculated from all the responses. (Underwood, 2004) The equivalent weights for the answers will be:

Range                                                            Interpretation

            4.50 – 5.00                                                    Strongly Agree

            3.50 – 4.00                                                    Agree

            2.50 – 3.49                                                    Uncertain

            1.50 – 2.49                                                    Disagree         

            0.00 – 1.49                                                    Strongly Disagree

Respondents of the Study

            Respondents of the study will consist of 50 injured female athletes in sports leagues such as in volleyball, basketball, football, baseball and tennis. The respondents will be asked about their different behavioral and emotional approach to the injury throughout its stages. The respondents will be chosen and surveyed through convenience sampling. Ten (10) respondents will represent each sports mentioned.

Data Analysis

The researcher will use median and percentage deviation as the statistical treatment for the study. The statistical formulae to be used in the survey questionnaire will be the following:

1.            Percentage – to determine the magnitude of the responses to the questionnaire.

                        n

% = -------- x 100        ;           n – number of responses

                        N                                 N – total number of respondents

2.            Weighted Mean

                        f₁x₁ + f₂x₂  + f₃x₃ + f₄x₄  + f₅x₅

x = ---------------------------------------------  ;

                                    x_t

where:            f – weight given to each response

                                    x – number of responses

            After the data analysis, the results will be interpreted with the help and guidance of the secondary data.

Budget

            The estimated budget for the study could reach $200 as expenses would cover: reproduction of questionnaires; basic commodities and service fees such as paper, pens, envelopes (for mailing), travel fees, and food fees; access fees (if ever); and the use of internet, libraries, mailing services, photo copying services, and statistics services.

References:

Arendt, E., et al (1995). Injury Patterns among Men and Women in Collegiate Basket Ball and Soccer: NCAA Data and Review of .Literature. American Journal of Sports of Sports Medicine, Vol.23, No.6; pp.694-701.

Beck, A. (1970). Cognitive Therapy: Nature and relation to behavior therapy. Behavior Therapy, Vol.2, No.1.

Best, John W. (1970). Research in Education, 2^nd Ed. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall, Inc.

Brehm, B.A. and Burney, M. (1998). The female athlete triad (onset of eating disorders, amenorrhea and osteoporosis in women athletes). Journal of Physical Education. Vol.69, No.1; pp.43-45.

Brewer, B., and Petrie, T. (1995). A comparison between injured and uninjured football players of selected psychosocial variables. The Academic Athletic Journal, Spring; pp.11-18.

Creswell, J.W. 1994. Research design. Qualitative and quantitative approaches. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage.

Crossman, J. (1994). Injured Athletes: Study of Emotional Responses. Journal of Sport Behavior; Vol.17, No.1; pp.178-187.

Faris, G. J. (1985). Psychologic aspects of athletic rehabilitation. Clinics in Sports Medicine, Vol.4, No.3; pp.545-551.

Frankfort-Nachmias, C., & Nachmias, D. (1992). Research methods in the social sciences (4th ed.). New York: St. Martin's Press.

Granito Jr., V. (2001). Athletic injury experience: A qualitative focus group approach. Journal of Sport Behavior, Vol.24, No.1; pp.63-82.

Granito, V. (2002). Psychological Response to Athletic Injury: Gender Differences. Journal of Sport Behavior, Vol.25, No.1; pp. 243-260.

Leddy, M., Lambert, M., and Ogles, B. (1994). Psychological consequences of athletic injury among high-level competitors. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, Vol.65, No.1; pp. 347-354.

Matveev, A.V. (2002). The Advantages Of Employing Quantitative And Qualitative Methods In Intercultural Research: Practical Implications From The Study Of The Perceptions Of Intercultural Communication Competence By American And Russian Managers. New York: Russian Communication Association.

Recer, P. (2002). Women Recall Emotional Issues Better. AP Online. Available at: www.highbeam.com [Accessed: 12/02/04].

Rotella, R. J., and Heyman, S. R. (1986). Stress, injury and the psychological rehabilitation of athletes. In JM Williams (Ed), Applied Sport Psychology: Personal growth to peak performance (pp. 343-364). Palo Alto, CA. Mayfield.

Smith, A., Stuart, M., Wiese-Bjornstal, D., Milliner, E., O'Fallon, M., and Crowson, C. (1993). Competitive athletes: Preinjury and postinjury mood states and self-esteem. Mayo Clinic Proceedings, Vol.68, No.1; pp.939-947.

Underwood, Mick. (2004). The Likert Scale. In Communication Studies, Cultural Studies, Media Studies (CMMS) Infobase. Available at: [www.cultsock.ndirect.co.uk/MUHome/cshtml/index.html]. Accessed: [12/02/04].

Wiese-Bjornstal, D., and Shaffer, S. (1999). Psychosocial dimensions of sport injury. In R. Ray, and D. Wiese-Bjornstal, (Eds.), Counseling in Sports Medicine. (pp. 23-40) Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.