Coping with Sport Injury and Rehabilitation

When faced with a stressor, individuals are likely to initiate cognitive and behavioral efforts, with a goal to cope with the stressor and its effects. With a goal to facilitate successful coping, many athletes are using personal coping skills which may have a deep personal and/or sociocultural history or meaning for them. The purpose of this chapter is to present selected coping strategies athletes are likely to use in their efforts to manage stressors related to sport injury. This chapter will outline the transactional theory of stress and coping, demonstrate how various coping strategies can be applied to sport injury and rehabilitation, and examine the potential role of religion and spirituality in sport injury rehabilitation.