Reflections on a Quarter-Century of Research in Sports Medicine Psychology

Abstract

The three purposes of this paper are to provide reflections on (a) defining a new field of sports medicine psychology, (b) our research examining the genesis and testing of the integrated model of psychological response to the sport injury and rehabilitation process (Wiese-Bjornstal & Smith, 1993), and, (c) future directions for evaluating the model and advancing the field of sports medicine psychology.  Illustrations are used to visually summarize components of sports medicine psychology and show the integrated model, while a summary table is provided to highlight key findings from over 25 years of research about the integrated model components.  Historical perspectives, philosophical dilemmas, conceptual frameworks, research findings, and professional issues are interwoven into synopses addressing these three purposes.