Psychological skills and adherence to rehabilitation after reconstruction of the anterior cruciate ligament

Objective: To examine the relationship between self-reported use of psychol ogical skills and rehabilitation adherence. Design: Prospective correlational design. Setting: Outpatient physical-therapy clinic specializing in sports medicine . Patients: Fifty-four patients (17 women and 37 men) undergoing rehabilitati on after anterior-cruciate-ligament reconstruction. Main Outcome Measures: An abbreviated version of the Sports Injury Survey ( levleva & Orlick, 1991) was administered approximately 5 weeks after surger y to assess use of goal setting, imagery, and positive self-talk. Four adhe rence measures were obtained during the remainder of rehabilitation: attend ance at rehabilitation sessions, practitioner ratings of patient adherence at rehabilitation sessions, patient self-reports of home exercise completio n, and patient self-reports of home cryotherapy completion. Results: Goal setting was positively associated with home exercise completi on and practitioner adherence ratings. Positive self-talk was positively co rrelated with home exercise completion. Conclusions: Use of certain psychological skills might contribute to better adherence to sport-injury rehabilitation protocols.