Effects of an Intervention Based on Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy on Emotional Well-being of Athletic Adolescents with Injuries

Introduction: Adolescent athletes face a heightened risk of injury relative to their adult counterparts, largely due to ongoing growth and developmental changes.
Objective: This study aims to explore the impact of a cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) intervention on the psychological well-being of school students who are athletes and have sustained injuries.
Methods: This research adopts a semi-experimental design characterized by a pre-test-post-test structure, complemented by a control group. A total of 28 male adolescent athletes who experienced injuries were chosen and randomly allocated to either the intervention or control groups. The CBT sessions were conducted bi-weekly over an eight-week duration, with each session lasting 75 minutes. To assess levels of burnout, anger, anxiety, and depression, the study utilized the Sports Burnout Questionnaire, the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory 2, the Beck Anxiety Inventory, and the Beck Depression Inventory. Data analysis was performed using independent t-tests and analysis of covariance.
Results: A total of 76.6% of participants in the intervention group and 78.1% in the control group indicated that they had experienced injuries either before or during the primary event. The post-test results revealed a statistically significant difference between the intervention and control groups concerning athlete burnout (t=-6.528, P<0.001), anger (t=7.854, P<0.001), anxiety (t=6.947, P<0.001), and depression (t=9.658, P<0.001).
Conclusion: CBT protocol, which concentrated on psychological trauma, was effective in enhancing the psychological well-being of injured adolescent athletes. It is recommended that future studies involve participants with similar injuries to maintain consistency in injury status, thereby facilitating more accurate comparisons.