THE EFFECT OF RATIONAL EMOTIVE BEHAVIOUR THERAPY ON POST-TRAUMATIC GROWTH IN ANTERIOR CRUCIATE LIGAMENT INJURED FOOTBALL PLAYERS

Rahmath Nishada K., Guneet Inder Jit Kaur

Abstract


Sports injuries often lead to significant psychological distress, affecting athletes' mental well-being and future performance. This explored the impact of Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy (REBT) on post-traumatic growth (PTG) in eight ACL-injured football players (aged 19–24). Data collected from SAIFIT Rehab and High-Performance Center showed significant improvements in PTG domains, highlighting REBT's effectiveness in fostering resilience and adaptive coping in sports injury rehabilitation. Participants underwent REBT intervention, and data were collected through the Post-Traumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI) to measure changes in PTG levels. A paired-samples t-test revealed significant improvements across multiple PTG domains, including personal strength (p = .002), new possibilities (p = .038), improved relationships (p = .014), and appreciation for life (p = .032). The overall PTG score showed a highly significant increase (p < .001), indicating the effectiveness of REBT in facilitating positive psychological adaptation post-injury. These preliminary findings suggest that REBT can play a crucial role in fostering PTG among injured athletes, emphasizing its potential integration into sports rehabilitation programs. Future research with larger sample sizes and longitudinal follow-ups is recommended to strengthen these findings and establish the long-term efficacy of REBT in sports injury recovery.

 

Article visualizations:

Hit counter


Keywords


rational emotive behaviour therapy, post-traumatic growth, sports injury, psychological rehabilitation

Full Text:

PDF

References


Bisciotti, G. N., Chamari, K., Cena, E., Bisciotti, A., Bisciotti, A., Corsini, A., & Volpi, P. (2019). Anterior cruciate ligament injury risk factors in football. The Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness, 59(10), 1724–1738. https://doi.org/10.23736/S0022-4707.19.09563-X

Brewer, B. W. (2007). Psychology of sport injury rehabilitation. In G. Tenenbaum & R. C. Eklund (Eds.), Handbook of sport psychology (3rd ed., pp. 404–424). John Wiley & Sons. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118270011.ch18

Calhoun, C. D., Stone, K. J., Cobb, A. R., Patterson, M. W., Danielson, C. K., & Bendezú, J. J. (2022). The role of social support in coping with psychological trauma: An in-tegrated biopsychosocial model for posttraumatic stress recovery. The Psychiatric Quarterly, 93(4), 949. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11126-022-10003-w

David, D., Schnur, J., & Belloiu, A. (2002). Another search for the “hot” cognitions: Ap-praisal, irrational beliefs, attributions, and their relation to emotion. Journal of Ra-tional-Emotive and Cognitive-Behavior Therapy, 20, 93-131. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1019876601693

Dryden, W. (2009). How to think and intervene like an REBT therapist. Routledge. Retrieved from https://www.routledge.com/How-to-Think-and-Intervene-Like-an-REBT-Therapist/Dryden/p/book/9781032601762?srsltid=AfmBOooUVP3hbX_JVDUBm-ltQ3B85EB-m-KCzl50lSSfHLdhqP2cjtUC

Ellis, A. (1957). Rational psychotherapy and individual psychology. Journal of Individual Psychology, 13, 38–44. Retrieved from https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1958-05549-001

Ellis, A. (1994). Reason and emotion in psychotherapy: A comprehensive method of treating hu-man disturbances. Birch Lane Press. Retrieved from https://books.google.ro/books/about/Reason_and_Emotion_in_Psychotherapy.html?id=nFKhPwAACAAJ&hl=en&redir_esc=y

Ellis, A., & Dryden, W. (2007). The practice of rational emotive behavior therapy. Springer Publishing Company. Retrieved from https://books.google.ro/books/about/The_Practice_of_Rational_Emotive_Behavio.html?id=UPYCBVopnZwC&redir_esc=y

Haugen, E. (2022). Athlete mental health & psychological impact of sport injury. Opera-tive Techniques in Sports Medicine, 30(1), 150898. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.otsm.2022.150898

Piussi, R., Beischer, S., Thomeé, R., Thomeé, C., Sansone, M., Samuelsson, K., & Senor-ski, E. H. (2022). Greater psychological readiness to return to sport, as well as greater present and future knee-related self-efficacy, can increase the risk for an anterior cruciate ligament re-rupture: a matched cohort study. Arthroscopy: The Journal of Arthroscopic & Related Surgery, 38(4), 1267-1276. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.arthro.2021.08.040

Podlog, L., & Eklund, R. C. (2007). The psychosocial aspects of a return to sport follow-ing serious injury: A review of the literature from a self-determination perspec-tive. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 8(4), 535–566. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2006.07.008

Putri, I. R., & Hartini, N. (2021). The overview of post-traumatic growth in wrestling athletes in early age who experienced injuries. Journal of Computational and Theo-retical Nanoscience, 18(1–2), 160–164. https://doi.org/10.1166/jctn.2021.9490

Putukian, M. (2016). The psychological response to injury in student athletes: A narra-tive review with a focus on mental health. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 50(3), 145–148. Retrieved from https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/50/3/145

Robazza, C., Morano, M., Bortoli, L., & Ruiz, M. C. (2023). Athletes’ basic psychological needs and emotions: The role of cognitive reappraisal. Frontiers in Psychology, 14, 1205102. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1205102

Sandon, A., Krutsch, W., Alt, V., & Forssblad, M. (2021). Increased occurrence of ACL injuries for football players in teams changing coaches and for players going to a higher division. Knee Surgery, Sports Traumatology, Arthroscopy, 30(4), 1380. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00167-021-06604-w

Tedeschi, R. G., & Calhoun, L. G. (2004). Posttraumatic growth: Conceptual foundations and empirical evidence. Psychological Inquiry, 15(1), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327965pli1501_01

Tóth, R., Resperger, V., & Tóth, L. (2024). Optimizing athletes' mindsets: Application of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) in sport. SPRINT – Sports Research In-ternational, 1(1), 25–29. https://doi.org/10.1556/1020.2024.00008

Tóth, R., Turner, M. J., Mannion, J., & Tóth, L. (2023). The effectiveness of rational emo-tive behavior therapy (REBT) and mindfulness-based intervention (MBI) on psy-chological, physiological and executive functions as a proxy for sports perfor-mance. BMC Psychology, 11, 442. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-023-01486-8

Turner, M. J. (2016). Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT), irrational and rational beliefs, and the mental health of athletes. Frontiers in Psychology, 7, 1423. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01423

Turner, M. J., & Barker, J. B. (2014). Using rational emotive behavior therapy with ath-letes. The Sport Psychologist, 28(1), 75–90. https://doi.org/10.1123/tsp.2013-0012

Turner, M. J., & Davis, H. S. (2019). Stress and emotion regulation in athletes: The role of REBT. The Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 31(3), 253–270. https://doi.org/10.1080/10413200.2018.1538709

Vann, S. E., Moore, D. M., Freiburger, K., & Johnson, H. (2019). The end is not the injury: Posttraumatic growth after sport injuries. Journal of Amateur Sport, 4(2), 87–102. https://doi.org/10.17161/jas.v4i2.6705

Wadey, R., Evans, L., Evans, K., & Mitchell, I. (2019). An examination of hardiness throughout the sport injury process. British Journal of Health Psychology, 24(3), 525–544. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjhp.12364

Yang, J., Peek-Asa, C., Covassin, T., & Torner, J. C. (2015). Post-concussion symptoms of depression and anxiety in Division I collegiate athletes. Developmental Neuropsy-chology, 40(1), 18–23. https://doi.org/10.1080/87565641.2014.973499




DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.46827/ejpe.v12i9.6317

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Copyright (c) 2025 Rahmath Nishada K., Guneet Inder Jit Kaur

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Copyright © 2015 - 2026. European Journal of Physical Education and Sport Science (ISSN 2501 - 1235) is a registered trademark of Open Access Publishing Group. All rights reserved.

This journal is a serial publication uniquely identified by an International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) serial number certificate issued by Romanian National Library (Biblioteca Nationala a Romaniei). All the research works are uniquely identified by a CrossRef DOI digital object identifier supplied by indexing and repository platforms. All authors who send their manuscripts to this journal and whose articles are published on this journal retain full copyright of their articles. All the research works published on this journal are meeting the Open Access Publishing requirements and can be freely accessed, shared, modified, distributed and used in educational, commercial and non-commercial purposes under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).