Expressive writing allows injured athletes to construct written narratives depicting their emotional experiences as well as engage in a self-regulatory process

facilitating an increased sense of control over their emotions.59 While the studies included in this review demonstrate growing empirical evidence of integrating psychological techniques into the rehabilitation process following sport injury, these studies are limited by small sample size, which makes it difficult to detect intervention effects due to a lack of statistical power. Furthermore, these studies often have a short follow-up time, thus the long-term effects of these interventions often are unknown. Despite these Pifithrin-�� nmr limitations, the reviewed studies demonstrated positive intervention effects specific to several aspects of psychological recovery including reducing negative psychological consequences, increasing positive coping, and decreasing re-injury anxiety. Our findings provide empirical data for future studies that examine the effects of psychological interventions. Our findings demonstrate the urgent need for additional research examining the effects of psychological interventions utilizing

rigorous methodology which includes utilizing RCT or prospective study design, inclusion of a control group, consistent and improved outcome measures, accounting for potential confounders in the analysis, and increased diversity of study populations to increase generalizability. Despite the wide research design inclusion criteria, only six interventions were included in this review. While the variations in research Selleck FRAX597 designs and intervention outcomes provide insight into the wide range of techniques Carnitine dehydrogenase available to sports psychologists and other professionals involved in the rehabilitation process,35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40 and 41 the limited number of studies employing each type of technique prevented further comprehensive analysis. Thus, our ability to draw a conclusion on effectiveness of psychological interventions was limited. Furthermore, this review only included intervention strategies with individual injured

athletes. Many intervention strategies that target changes at interpersonal, organizational, and policy level(s) to improve outcomes of psychological rehabilitation, such as increased social support from the team or athletic trainers, or psychological counseling services at athletic department, were not included.60, 61, 62, 63 and 64 In conclusion, the results of this review support the effectiveness of psychological intervention in reducing post-injury psychological consequences and improving psychological coping during rehabilitation. Specifically, guided imagery/relaxation was shown to be associated with improved psychological coping and reduced re-injury anxiety. Goal setting however, was not directly associated with reduction of negative psychological consequences.