Comparison of Fear Avoidance Scores in Male and Female Division III Athletes

Context: Athletic injuries have an effect on an athlete’s physiological and psychological health. The Athlete Fear Avoidance Questionnaire is one of many questionnaires that can assess an athlete’s fear avoidance.Objective: Compare scores of the Athlete Fear Avoidance Questionnaire (AFAQ) of male and female intercollegiate athletes.Design: Quantitative researchSetting: Online surveyParticipants: 19 Division III intercollegiate athletes who missed a minimum of 1 week of practice.Intervention: NoneMain Outcome Measure: The AFAQ is a 10-item scale that measures injury-related fear avoidance in athletes.Results: There were no significant differences between male and female’s scores (p = 0.60) on the AFAQ. Athletes who had surgery reported more concern about their future athletic abilities than those who did not (p = 0.04). Athletes who did not complete rehabilitation had higher reported levels of pain than those who completed rehabilitation (p = 0.04). There were no significant differences in total Athlete Fear Avoidance Questionnaire scores based on sport (p = 0.83).Conclusions: Identifying athletes with high levels of fear avoidance is important. This can allow clinicians to address the psychological barrier early in the rehabilitation process, which can potentially reduce return to play time.Key Words: sport psychology, psychological readiness