Examination of the validity of the Injury-Psychological Readiness to Return to Sport (I-PRRS) scale in male professional football players: A worldwide study of 29 professional teams

Dunlop, Gordon; Ivarsson, Andreas; Einar Andersen, Thor; Brown, Susan; O’Driscoll, Gary; Lewin, Colin; Dupont, Gregory; Ardern, Clare L.; Delecroix, Barthelemy; Podlog, Leslie; McCall, Alan

Abstract

Perceived confidence is an important dimension of an athlete’s psychological readiness to return-to-play. However, there is no established and validated tool to evaluate confidence in professional football. This study aimed to provide preliminary evaluation of the internal structure of the Injury-Psychological Readiness to Return-to-Sport scale (I-PRRS) in a cohort of injured male professional footballers. Over an 18-month period, 29 teams from 17 leagues participated. Players sustaining injuries eliciting ≥ 3 weeks’ time-loss were recruited. Cross culturally adapted to 4 further languages, the I-PRRS was administered on two occasions: 1) day before returning-to-training and 2) day before returning-to-match-play. In total, 113 injuries were recorded with 96 completed I-PRRS data sets collected. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated the I-PRRS was a unidimensional scale, with all items measuring the same construct. The scale demonstrated good internal consistency (ω = .88). When examining longitudinal invariance of the I-PRRS across administration time-points, indices of model fit supported scalar invariance. There was preliminary evidence of good internal structure for the I-PRRS in professional male footballers. However, before further research involving the I-PRRS can be endorsed, efforts to confirm or refute empirical developments pertaining to psychological readiness are necessary.

Citation

Dunlop, G., Ivarsson, A., Einar Andersen, T., Brown, S., O’Driscoll, G., Lewin, C., Dupont, G., Ardern, C. L., Delecroix, B., Podlog, L., & McCall, A. (2023). Examination of the validity of the Injury-Psychological Readiness to Return to Sport (I-PRRS) scale in male professional football players: A worldwide study of 29 professional teams. Journal of Sports Sciences, 41, 1906-1914. https://doi.org/10.1080/02640414.2024.2307764

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jan 12, 2024
• Online Publication Date: Jan 25, 2024
• Publication Date: 2023
• Deposit Date: Jan 17, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 17, 2024
• Print ISSN: 0264-0414
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 41
• Pages: 1906-1914
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/02640414.2024.2307764
• Keywords: Return to Play, Rehabilitation, Football, Psychological Readiness
• Public URL: http://researchrepository.napier.ac.uk/Output/3484846