Sport injuries and personality: A systematic review

Although there is a block of literature that examines the relationship between psychology and sports injuries, studies on hardiness, competitive anxiety and competitiveness are very scarce. This systematic review shows that the information concerning these is incomplete and, at times, contradictory. The purpose of this study is to review the literature that analyzes these psychological factors in the injuries of athletes. It was identified significant studies through a systematic search in PubMed and SportDiscus, extracting data on the design of the study, participants, variables, instruments and outcomes. Six studies were included, 2 benchmarks to hardiness and other 4 related to competitive anxiety, did not find any significant with respect to competitiveness associated with sport injuries. Initial evidence indicates that higher scores in hardiness and lower scores on competitive anxiety decrease the vulnerability of the athlete to suffer sports injuries. Statistically and results are discussed. (C) 2014 Consell Catala de l'Esport. Generalitat de Catalunya. Published by Elsevier Espana, S.L.U. All rights reserved.