An examination of hardiness throughout the sport-injury process: A qualitative follow-up study

Objectives. This qualitative follow-up study aimed to enhance the interpretability and meaningfulness of the findings that emerged from a quantitative study that explored the effect of hardiness on the prediction of, and response to, sport injury (i.e., Wadey, Evans, Hanton, & Neil, 2012). Design. Using theory-based and maximum-variation sampling to contextualize and provide an in-depth understanding of the previous findings, the participants comprised a purposeful sample of 10 athletes from the quantitative study (M age = 21.7; SD= 1.06). Methods. Data were derived through semi-structured interviews, and analysed and displayed using composite sequence analysis (Miles & Huberman, 1994). Results. The findings extended Wadey 's (2012) study by identifying the perceived mechanisms by which athletes high and low in hardiness exacerbated or attenuated the impact of pre-injury negative major life events (i.e., a significant predictor of sport injury) and post-injury responses. Specifically, the findings demonstrate that athletes high in hardiness possessed a refined repertoire of problem- and emotion-focused coping strategies that they used pre- and post-injury. Those athletes low in hardiness used avoidance coping strategies that had long-term negative implications. Conclusions. These findings have important implications for the structure, timing, and content of hardiness interventions that aim to reduce rates of injury occurrence and expedite injured athletes' return to competitive sport. Statement of Contribution What is already known on this subject? Although the personality trait of hardiness has received limited research attention in the context of sport injury, a recent study demonstrated that hardiness lowers the risk of, and promotes recovery from, injury (Wadey, Evans, Hanton, & Neil, 2012). Despite these encouraging findings, they fail to contextualize and provide an in-depth understanding of the mechanisms by which hardiness operates. What does this study add? A number of personal and situational factors affected athletes' responses pre- and post-injury. Athletes high and low in hardiness used different coping strategies throughout the sport-injury process. These findings have implications for the structure, timing, and content of hardiness interventions.