The news has been filled with stories about injuries in cheerleading. It’s serious business, indeed. 

I recently spent time catching up on my reading and came across a chapter in a huge tome called The Handbook of Sport Psychology – Third Edition (938 pages!) written by Drs. Jean M. Williams and Mark B. Andersen.  The title of the chapter is – Psychosocial Antecedent of Sport Injury and Interventions for Risk Reduction.  Although the chapter does not refer to cheerleading per se and it is unlikely that any of the research cited was based on the sport of cheerleading, I still think the major points in the chapter are worth considering. 

In a nutshell, the authors say that there is little doubt (based on 3 decades of research) that certain psychosocial variables significantly influence injury risk and injury outcome.  Although many of the causes for injury are undoubtedly physical in nature, psychosocial factors also play a role. 

These psychosocial factors are: stress, social support, and coping skills.  

Now it’s impossible to avoid stress of course and the competitive nature of any sport, cheerleading included, induces stress.  But in this model, the authors are referring to individuals with a history of many stressors such as a chaotic family life, recent losses, learning challenges, and so forth, plus having a personality style that intensifies the stress response and few coping resources. 

When someone like this is put into a stressful situation (tryouts, conflict  within a squad, pressure to learn new moves,  or a competition), he or she is more likely to interpret the situation as stressful and will exhibit more physiological activation and attentional problems. 

In other words, these individuals tend to be more reactive and impulsive. They do not have the psychological resources to manage and reduce their stress responses. 

It makes sense that the presence of stress can influence injury rates since stress is accompanied by increased physiological activation (increased heart and respiratory rate, increased release of cortisol, and disruption in cognitive and attentional functioning). 

If there ever were a sport that required laser focus, it is cheerleading!  Anything that disrupts this can lead to injury. 

There is much more to say about this but this is blog posting, not a book. 

 I will add more in future postings.  In the meantime, I invite your comments and questions.