Perfectionist Concerns Predict Injury Risk In Collegiate Distance Runners - Preliminary Findings From A Prospective Study

2354 Board #190 June 1 9

30 AM - 11

00 AM

Distance runners have a high incidence of running-related injury (RRI). While anatomical, biomechanical, and training load have been associated with RRIs, psychological factors like perfectionism may also contribute to injury risk. Perfectionist strivings (high personal standards [PS]) can be adaptive, but perfectionist concerns (concerns over mistakes [COM]) and doubts about actions [DAA]) are considered maladaptive. The combination of high PS with high COM and DAA is considered unhealthy perfectionism and may increase a runner’s risk of RRI.

PURPOSE: To determine whether perfectionist concerns were associated with RRI occurrence in distance runners. We hypothesized that runners with higher PS and COM and/or DAA would have a higher incidence of RRI during the season.

METHODS: Thirty-four NCAA Division III collegiate cross country runners (18 males, 16 females; mean age of 19.6±1.2 years; BMI of 20.6±1.8) completed the Sport Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale-2 (Sport-MPS-2) on the first day of their competitive season. Runners were followed prospectively during the first 8 weeks of their season for any RRIs resulting in limited or missed practices or competitions. Fifteen runners (44.1%) experienced a time loss RRI. Independent t-tests were used to compare mean differences of PS, COM and DAA scores between runners who experienced a RRI and runners without RRI. Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) assessed the risk of RRI between runners with and without perfectionist concerns.

RESULTS: Injured runners rated their COM higher (23.5±4.9 points) than uninjured runners (19.9±5.3 points) (p=0.05). Injured runners also rated their DAA higher (14.5±4.2 points) higher than uninjured runners (11.4±3.6 points) (p=0.03). Runners with perfectionist concerns (high PS and high COM and/or DAA) were 17 times more likely to experience a RRI during the season (OR=17.0, 95% CI 2.8-104.5, p=0.001).

CONCLUSIONS: Runners reporting Sport-MPS-2 scores classifying them as having unhealthy perfectionism were more likely to incur a RRI than runners with lower Sport-MPS-2 scores. Further study is needed to determine whether interventions can modify perfectionist concerns and whether training load modifications for those with unhealthy perfectionism affect injury rates.