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Updated: May 16, 2025

A Multi-Modal Approach to Assessing Recovery in Youth Athletes Following Concussion
Published on: September 25, 2014
Athletic trainer strategies for nurturing athletes' basic psychological needs during sport injury rehabilitation
Matthew Bejar1, Johannes Raabe2, Kim Tolentino3
1San José State University, San José, California, USA.
Abstract:
Objective: To qualitatively explore athletic trainers' (ATs') perceptions of how they support injured college athletes' basic psychological needs of competence, autonomy, and relatedness. Participants and methods: Thirteen U.S. National Collegiate Athletic Association ATs completed semi-structured interviews. Four researchers conducted a deductive thematic analysis. Techniques (audit trail, bracketing of biases, and member checking) were utilized to enhance the study's rigor. Results: Three themes with eight sub-themes representing need-supporting strategies were constructed: (a) ATs attempted to foster injured athletes' perceived relatedness by cultivating trusting connections; (b) ATs attempted to foster injured athletes' perceived competence by engendering mastery during rehabilitation; and (c) ATs attempted to foster injured athletes' perceived autonomy by promoting ownership of their rehabilitation. Conclusions: Multiple strategies described by ATs were aligned with need-satisfying approaches discussed by athletes in previous research. The present study offers rich descriptions of techniques for facilitating optimal motivation in injured college athletes for ATs to consider.
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