Psychological Readiness to Return to Sport Following Injury: A State-of-the-Art Review
Leslie Podlog, Ross Wadey, Jeff Caron, John J. Fraser, Andréas Ivarsson, John Heil, Stefanie Podlog, Tallie Casucci
Abstract
Psychological readiness to return to sport (RTS) after injury is a critical and timely area of research that has received significant research attention of late. Given the increased maturity of this field of research, it is now time to take stock of recent empirical developments and to chart a course for future work in this area. The purpose of this state of the-art review was to conduct the first narrative synthesis examining the literature on psychological readiness to RTS following injury. This review draws upon a growing body of literature spanning various disciplines (e.g., sport medicine, sport psychology, sociology of sport, and military medicine) and cultures/languages (e.g., Swedish, Italian, Farci, Spanish, Chinese). Our a priori aims were to: (a) examine how psychological readiness to RTS has been conceptualized and operationalized; (b) review factors that enable (and constrain) psychological readiness to RTS; and (c) consider implications of readiness to RTS. In the discussion, we offer critical reflections on the research to date, a definition of psychological readiness, and propose novel hypotheses and research questions for the next wave of research.