PERCEPTIONS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL INTERVENTIONS IN THE CONTEXT OF SPORT INJURY REHABILITATION

Two experiments were conducted to evaluate perceptions of three differ ent psychological interventions in the context of sport injury rehabil itation. In Experiment 1, college students (N = 161) rated their perce ptions of goal setting, imagery, or counseling as an adjunct to physic al therapy for a hypothetical injured athlete. In Experiment 2, injure d athletes (N = 20) received brief introductory sessions of goal setti ng, imagery, and counseling. Subjects' perceptions were assessed immed iately following each intervention. In both experiments, subjects disp layed a preference for goal setting, although positive perceptions wer e obtained for all three interventions. Females' perceptions of the in terventions were significantly more positive than those of males in Ex periment 1, but not in Experiment 2. The findings suggest that goal se tting, imagery, and counseling are sufficiently credible to be examine d in controlled outcome studies with injured athletes.