Social support patterns of collegiate athletes before and after injury

Background: Social support has been identified as an important factor in facilitating recovery from injury; however, no previous study has prospectively examined the change in social support patterns before and after injury.

Objective: To examine the gender differences in social support patterns among collegiate athletes, and to investigate social support pattern changes pre- and post-injury

Method: A prospective design with repeated measures. Baseline data were collected among participating athletes from 13 sports teams in one Big Ten university. Injury incidence was identified using the Sports Injury Monitoring System (SIMS). Follow-up in-person surveys were administered among injured athletes. Changes in athletes' reported sources of and satisfaction with social support between baseline and three months post-injury were assessed, using a chi-square and t-test, respectively.

Results: A total of 257 (male=167, female=90) collegiate athletes were included. Male athletes had more sources of social support than female athletes, while female athletes had a greater satisfaction with the support they receive. Athletes' social support patterns changed after they become injured. Injured athletes reported relying more on coaches (p = .0084), athletic trainers (p < .0001), and physicians (p = .0120) for social support after they became injured. Athletes also reported significantly greater post-injury satisfaction with social support received from friends (p = .0028) and athletic trainers (p < .0001), but significantly lower post-injury satisfaction with the support received from family (p = .0423).

Conclusions: Our findings strongly suggest that athletic trainers have a critical role in providing social support to assist injured athletes in rehabilitation.