Coping and Social Support among Injured Athletes Following Surgery

Abstract

This research examined the role of coping and social support among injured athletes during rehabilitation from knee surgery. The 3 purposes included (a) describing the coping strategies used, (b) examining whether significant time changes in the use of coping and social support occurred during rehabilitation, and (c) determining if coping and social support were significant predictors of rehabilitation adherence. Athletes (N = 25) who underwent knee surgery completed assessments five times: presurgery and 3,6,9, and 12 weeks postsurgery. Descriptive statistics revealed that instrumental coping was the most used coping strategy. Additionally, a series of repeated measures analyses showed significant time changes in 2 types of coping (negative emotion and palliative), with effect sizes ranging from .16 to .32. Finally, a series of simultaneous multiple regression analyses indicated that instrumental coping was a significant predictor of adherence at 9 weeks postsurgery, explaining approximately 44% of the variance.