Associations Between Emotional Distress and Injury Occurrence in Physically Active Students
1Department of Biological Principles of Physical Activity, Wroclaw University of Health and Sport Sciences, 51-612 Wroclaw, Poland.
Journal of Clinical Medicine
|March 14, 2026
Summary
Negative emotional states like anxiety are linked to injury in physically active young men, but not women. Overall emotional states showed little impact on injury occurrence in this study.
Area of Science:
- Sports Medicine
- Psychology
- Exercise Science
Background:
- Psychological factors, including negative emotional states, are explored as potential injury correlates.
- Existing research on the independent and combined effects of depression, anxiety, and stress on injury occurrence is inconsistent, especially regarding sex differences.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate whether the relationship between adverse emotional states and injury occurrence differs between men and women in physically active young adults.
Main Methods:
- Cross-sectional study of 418 university students (199 males, 219 females).
- Assessed depression, anxiety, and stress using the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-21).
- Collected injury history via self-report and analyzed associations using logistic regression, stratified by sex and adjusted for training load and experience.
Main Results:
- Linear models best represented the association between emotional states and injury.
- Anxiety showed a modest, sex-specific association with injury occurrence in males (OR = 1.05).
- No significant associations were found for depression, stress, or any emotional state in females.
Conclusions:
- Negative emotional states have limited and additive associations with injury occurrence.
- Anxiety is a minor, sex-specific correlate of injury in young physically active males.
- Emotional states have limited predictive value for injury occurrence in this population.
Keywords:
anxietydepressioninjury occurrencenegative emotional statesphysical activitystressyoung adultsMore Related Videos
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