ATC Psychology of Injury 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which factor is MOST strongly associated with an athlete's successful psychological return to sport after ACL reconstruction?
- Achieving full anatomical healing on MRI
- Passing all functional movement screens
- High return-to-sport self-efficacy and low fear of re-injury (Correct answer)
- Returning within 9 months of surgery
Correct answer: High return-to-sport self-efficacy and low fear of re-injury
Psychological readiness—specifically high confidence and low fear of re-injury—is one of the strongest predictors of successful and lasting return to sport.
Question 2: An AT notices an athlete has lost significant weight, is exercising through pain, and denies any problems when asked. The AT should FIRST:
- Dismiss concerns since the athlete denied any issues
- Document observations and consult with team physician and mental health staff (Correct answer)
- Immediately notify the athlete's parents without discussing it with the athlete
- Increase the athlete's training load to test their physical status
Correct answer: Document observations and consult with team physician and mental health staff
Observable signs of disordered eating or overtraining warrant documentation and a multidisciplinary consultation rather than dismissal or unilateral action.
Question 3: Pain catastrophizing in injured athletes is BEST addressed through which intervention?
- Increasing opioid pain medication dosage
- Cognitive restructuring and psychological skills training (Correct answer)
- Encouraging the athlete to ignore pain signals entirely
- Reducing all rehabilitation activity until pain resolves
Correct answer: Cognitive restructuring and psychological skills training
Cognitive restructuring helps athletes identify and challenge catastrophic thoughts, replacing them with more accurate and adaptive appraisals of pain.
Question 4: Which of the following BEST describes the concept of emotional contagion in a sports medicine context?
- An athlete transmitting a contagious illness to teammates during rehabilitation
- An AT's negative attitude about an athlete's prognosis influencing the athlete's recovery mindset (Correct answer)
- An athlete mimicking the injury behavior of a teammate to gain attention
- A team collectively celebrating a teammate's return to play
Correct answer: An AT's negative attitude about an athlete's prognosis influencing the athlete's recovery mindset
Emotional contagion occurs when one person's emotional state (e.g., an AT's pessimism) unconsciously influences another's mood and outlook.
Question 5: The ACSI-28 (Athletic Coping Skills Inventory) is used in athletic training to assess:
- An athlete's cardiovascular fitness after injury
- Psychological coping skills relevant to sport performance and injury (Correct answer)
- Nutritional deficiencies that impair recovery
- Baseline neurological function before contact sports participation
Correct answer: Psychological coping skills relevant to sport performance and injury
The ACSI-28 measures psychological coping skills such as coping with adversity, goal setting, and concentration, which are relevant to injury rehabilitation.
Question 6: Which communication strategy is MOST effective when an AT is delivering negative injury news to an athlete?
- Using medical jargon to appear authoritative and credible
- Delivering the information quickly and moving on to the treatment plan
- Using clear language, allowing silence, and inviting the athlete to ask questions (Correct answer)
- Avoiding eye contact to reduce the athlete's emotional response
Correct answer: Using clear language, allowing silence, and inviting the athlete to ask questions
Effective delivery of difficult news involves plain language, pausing to allow emotional processing, and creating space for the athlete to engage with the information.
Question 7: Which theoretical framework suggests that athletes' emotional responses to injury fluctuate and do not follow a fixed linear stage progression?
- Kübler-Ross stage model
- Wiese-Bjornstal integrated model of psychological response (Correct answer)
- Selye's General Adaptation Syndrome
- Maslow's hierarchy of needs
Correct answer: Wiese-Bjornstal integrated model of psychological response
Wiese-Bjornstal's integrated model describes a dynamic, non-linear process where cognitive, emotional, and behavioral responses interact and change throughout recovery.
ATC Psychology of Injury 5
Which factor is MOST strongly associated with an athlete's successful psychological return to sport after ACL reconstruction?