title: Role of sport medicine professionals in addressing psychosocial aspects of sport-injury rehabilitation: professional athletes' views.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Research from the sport medicine professional's (SMP's) perspective indicates that SMPs are often required to address psychosocial aspects of injuries during treatment. However, only a few authors have investigated injured athletes' experiences with these concerns.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To explore injured professional athletes' views on the role of SMPs in the psychosocial aspects of sport-injury rehabilitation. Design : Qualitative study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Professional association football and rugby union clubs.
  
  
  METHODS
  Ten professional, male football (n = 4; 40%) and rugby union (n = 6; 60%) players (age = 22.4 ± 3.4 years). Data Collection and Analysis : We collected data using a semistructured interview guide, and the data were then transcribed and analyzed following the interpretative phenomenological analysis guidelines. We peer reviewed and triangulated the established emergent themes to establish trustworthiness.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Athletes in our study viewed injuries as "part and parcel" of their sports. Despite normalizing sport injuries, athletes reported frequent feelings of frustration and self-doubt throughout the rehabilitation process. However, athletes' perceived the role of SMPs in injury rehabilitation as addressing physical concerns; any intervention aimed at psychosocial outcomes (eg, motivation, confidence) needed to be subtle and indirect.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The SMPs working with injured athletes need to understand the psychosocial principles that underpin athletes' sport-injury processes and the effect psychosocial reactions can have on athletes. Moreover, SMPs must understand the self-regulatory processes that may take place throughout injury rehabilitation and be able to apply psychological principles in natural and subtle ways to aid athletes' self-regulatory abilities.
authors.affiliation: University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
authors.forename: Monna
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Arvinen-Barrow
authors.forename: William V
authors.initials: WV
authors.lastname: Massey
authors.forename: Brian
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hemmings
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D056352:Athletes / Q000523:psychology; D001265:Athletic Injuries / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation; D003258:Consumer Behavior; D004644:Emotions; D005538:Football / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation; D024382:Professional Role; D011369:Professional-Patient Relations; D012046:Rehabilitation / Q000523:psychology*; D012649:Self Concept; D012938:Social Perception; D013178:Sports Medicine / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards
keywords: athlete–sport medicine professional expectations; psychosocial rehabilitation; qualitative research; sport psychology