Discrepancies between athletes' ratings of the seriousness and disruptive impact of an athletic injury and ratings by one experienced Sports Medicine Trainer were examined for 30 male and 13 female athletes undergoing treatment at a Sports Medicine Clinic. Overestimation of the seriousness or disruptive impact of the injury was significantly correlated with reports of more pain, higher state anxiety, and greater feelings of anger, apathy, loneliness, and inadequacy, and was more common among athletes competing at lower levels. These findings indicate need for psychological support for those athletes who overreact to injury.
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Crossman et al. (1985) studied this question.