Subject 4: 28-year-old female, futsal player. She plays as a wing player. He trains 4 days per week, averaging 8 h per week. He suffered a torn meniscus, which forced him to miss 22 training sessions and 6 games in a row.
The psychological assessment instruments used for the study were:
Personal and sports variables questionnaire. Ad hoc questionnaire to collect the athlete's socio-demographic data (see Annex I).
History of sports injuries. Ad hoc created questionnaire, based on an injury protocol. It captures the number of sports injuries sustained in the last two seasons and specific data about them (see Annex II).
Profile of Mood States (POMS,). In its Spanish version adapted and validated by. It is a self-report questionnaire for measuring mood. The short version was used, with 29 items answered on a Likert-type scale with 5 response options. It includes 5 dimensions: Tension (alpha = 0.83); Depression (alpha = 0.78); Anger (alpha = 0.85); Vigor (alpha = 0.83); Fatigue (alpha = 0.82).
Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale-21items (DASS-21,). In its version adapted and validated in Spanish. Has been used to measure general symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress. This scale has three subscales: depression, anxiety and stress, each consisting of 7 items, for a total of 21. In a Likert-type response scale, each item has four response options. It has a Cronbach's Alpha of 0.81.
Psychological Readiness of Injured Athlete to return to sport (PRIA,). The assessment instrument consists of 10 questions/items that include statements about self- confidence, individual status, uncertainty and fear of relapse. Scores range from 1 to 5, with higher scores corresponding to better psychological disposition.
Prior to the psychological assessment, the rehabilitation staff Football Federation of the Region of Murcia (FFRM) was contacted directly, thanks to a collaboration agreement in place at the time between the University of Murcia (UMU) (an organization in which the psychologist in charge of the study worked) and the FFRM. The rehabilitators served as a link between the psychologist and the athletes, providing the contact details of those athletes who met the inclusion criteria. The purpose of the study and the procedure were explained to the rehabilitators and later to the participating injured athletes (via telephone). In addition, all participants were informed of the purpose of the study and the confidentiality of both their responses and previously collected data. Informed consent and the privacy document were obtained from all participants. The entire evaluation process and subsequent contact was conducted online.
The study was approved under research ethics by the Ethics Committee of the University of Murcia (Spain), with reference number CEI-2623-2019. The moment the athletes were medically discharged from the FFRM, the psychological evaluation by the psychologist in charge of the project began. The evaluation was done online and consisted of three different moments related to the return to play (RTP), so the psychological evaluation process was as follows:
Initial assessment. It's conducted immediately after medical discharge. At this time, an assessment battery consisting of personal and sports variables, PRIA questionnaire and POMS questionnaire was used. For this purpose, an assessment battery was sent online via email, which could be completed directly by clicking on the link.
Monitoring of training. Completed once a week after practices. Recording the date and time of training, as well as the POMS.
Tracking of games. Completed after each match in which the athlete was used. Recorded the POMS, the DASS-21 and the PRIA.
It should be noted that the evaluation process was interrupted earlier than planned when competitions and training were interrupted due to the state of alert and lockdown declared by the Spanish Government because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Descriptive statistics were used for data analysis, employing counts, sums, percentages and measurements. The results of the POMS questionnaire were converted to a scale of 0 to 100 points, with 50 being the mean. Participants' pre-competition mood profile were analyzed and described. The graphs of the pre-competition and pre-training mood profiles were created. Likewise, the graphs were made with the results of the PRIA questionnaire. The statistical program SPSS 22.0 was used.