Subjective well-being is associated with injury risk in adolescent elite athletes

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of this study was to explore the association of subjective well-being with injury and injury severity in adolescent elite athletes. Design: Prospective cohort study. Participants: Three hundred eighty-six adolescent elite athletes (age range 15-19), participating in seven different sports, were monitored repeatedly over 52 weeks using a valid questionnaire about injuries, substantial injuries, injury severity and subjective well-being (scale 0-100). Results: A linear mixed model showed that subjective well-being was significantly influenced by injury severity (p < .001, estimate −1.7, 95% CI −1.4 to −2.0) and sex (p = .019, estimate −3.6, 95% CI −6.0 to −0.2). Of all injury reports where the athletes reported a well-being score of less than or equal to 20, 54% reported substantial injury, whereas 9% of the injury reports where the athletes reported a well-being score above 80 reported substantial injuries. In addition, an increase in subjective well-being with a score of 10 decreased the odds of injury with 5.6% (p = .036, 95% CI 89.5 to 99.6) and injury severity with 0.4 points (p = .01, 95% CI −0.6 to −0.1). Conclusion: Medical personnel need to be aware that young athletes may face well-being challenges while injured and that a low subjective well-being increase the injury risk the subsequent week.

Physical Exercise and Mental Health: The Routes of a Reciprocal Relation

“…Those athletes reporting anxiety symptoms had a higher risk of injury (Relative Risk 2.3, 95% CI: 2–2.6, p < 0.001), while no increased risk was observed for those reporting depressive symptoms (RR 1.1, 95%CI: 0.9–1.3). Another report on elite athletes investigated the role for subjective wellbeing in the risk of injury during the season [ 52 ]. The Oslo Sports Trauma Research Centre (OSTRC) Overuse Injury Questionnaire was used for either monitoring injuries or assessing the wellbeing of the athlete.…”

“…Correlation analysis showed also a negative association between wellbeing score and severity score (r = −0.32, p < 0.001), with a mixed model suggesting the influence of sex ( p = 0.019) and severity score ( p < 0.001) on wellbeing. Furthermore, mixed models showed that wellbeing score measured at the week before injury predicted injury (logistic mixed, p = 0.036) and injury severity (linear mixed, p = 0.010) [ 52 ].…”

“…Another consistent bias is represented by the lack of considering the lag effect in evaluating correlations, as the effects of physical activity on mental health measures could be observed after some time and over time. Only one paper by Von Rosen and Heijne considered this factor [ 52 ], assessing whether subjective wellbeing in a given week was potentially correlated with the risk of injury in the following week. Moreover, given the large variety of outcome measures in psychological assessment and the heterogeneity of study designs, meta-analysis of outcome data for the available papers’ results was not possible.…”

Chronic Workload, Subjective Arm Health, and Throwing Injury in High School Baseball Players: 3-Year Retrospective Pilot Study

“…In adolescent athletes of various sports, it was found that lower well-being, represented through wellness scores, was present in injured athletes. 47 Additionally, the authors reported increased injury risk for the week after a low well-being score. 47 The negative effects of high workloads on athlete reported wellness has been documented in previous studies.…”

“…47 Additionally, the authors reported increased injury risk for the week after a low well-being score. 47 The negative effects of high workloads on athlete reported wellness has been documented in previous studies. 43,51 Similarly, in the current study when adjusted for arm health, higher chronic load was associated with increased throwing-related injuries.…”