737 MEP086 – Can elite athletes’ psychological strain, mental ill-health symptomology, and well-being affect their injury risk?

AbstractBackground Understanding risk factors for injury remains integral for prevention strategies (Ivarsson, 2021). While biological and physical injury risk factors are established (West, 2023), psychological risk factors remain relatively unexplored. Mental ill-health has been tentatively associated with greater injury risk (e.g., Li et al., 2017), however, these studies have not used clinically validated tools (e.g., GAD-2; Mountjoy et al., 2023) or considered broader psychological factors (e.g., strain; Rice et al., 2020).Objective To examine if elite athletes' psychological strain, mental ill-health symptomology, and psychological well-being affects injury risk.Design Cross-sectional.Setting Primary data was collected using an online questionnaire.Participants 68 elite athletes (35 females, Mage = 25.97 ± 6.53 years) from various Olympic and Paralympic sports participated. Athletes were in receipt of Name of country's funding, with 33 podium-, 28 podium potential-, and 7 pathway-level athletes. Main Outcome Measurements The questionnaire assessed current health (OSTRC-H2), psychological strain (APSQ), mental illness symptomology (GAD-2, PHQ-2, BEDA-Q), and psychological well-being (WHO-5). Binomial regression analyses examined relationships between mental health variables and injury risk.Results The odds of experiencing injury significantly increased by 12.5% (95% CI .03, .22; p = .010) for each unit increase in psychological strain, by 46.7% (95% CI .07, .03; p = .016) for each unit increase in anxiety, and by 42.5% (95% CI .03, .97; p = .032) for each unit increase in depression. The odds of experiencing injury decreased by 7.2% (95% CI .94, 1.00; p = .053) for each unit increase in well-being. Disordered eating did not significantly affect injury risk (95% CI .91, 1.27; p = .419).Conclusions Athletes experiencing greater psychological strain, poorer mental health, and reduced well-being may be at greater risk of injury. To prevent injury, practitioners should proactively address athletes' psychological distress, and work to support their mental health and wellbeing.