Post-Injury Anxiety and PTSD Symptoms in Canadian University Athletes following a Substantial Injury: Looking to Compare Musculoskeletal Injuries and Concussions

Post-injury rehabilitation occurs across all levels of sport, but post-injury mental recovery receives much less attention. Research on the psychological impacts of injury in athletes is a very underrepresented field, with few studies focusing on it specifically. Hutchinson et al. (2009) found there was a difference in psychological responses between those diagnosed with concussions and those diagnosed with a musculoskeletal injury. This study explored female university athletes at a Canadian institution who experienced an injury that took them out of competition. Eight participants were evaluated throughout this study, four being diagnosed with a concussion and four being diagnosed with a musculoskeletal injury. Participants completed a single semi-structured interview, which was then thematically analyzed and broken down into four main themes and sub-themes. Main themes include; Living in the Aftershock: Post-injury PTSD and Anxiety, Anchored by Others: The role of Social Support, and Shifting Identities on the Sidelines: Role Change after Injury. Findings from this study showed that all participants showed symptoms of anxiety and PTSD following their injury, and continued navigating these symptoms when they were returning to competition despite medical clearance. Anxiety of re-injury was the most prominent, specifically the fear of going through the physical pain of the injury again. Additionally, this study showed that athletes showed symptoms of avoidance, specifically changing their behaviour in competition to avoid injury and negative memories associated with their injury. Lastly, findings showed that athletes diagnosed with a concussion and athletes diagnosed with musculoskeletal injuries differed in their emotional response, with athletes dealing with musculoskeletal injuries showing more anticipatory anxiety and athletes with concussions showing more avoidance.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.Sc. Applied Health Sciences

Level thesis:degree_level

Master

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Faculty of Applied Health Sciences

Department dc:contributor.department

Applied Health Sciences Program

Grantor dc:publisher

Brock University

Year dc:date.issued

2026

Author dc:creator

• Walsh, Madelyn

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Sullivan, Philip

• Injury Recovery
• PTSD symptoms
• Anxiety Symptoms
• Psychological response
• Student-athletes

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/10464/19995

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:brocku.scholaris.ca:10464/19995