Peer-reviewed article
Sports Injuries and Mental Health in Child and Adolescent Athletes: A Systematic Review
Gil-Caselles L, Olmedilla-Zafra A ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This systematic review examined how sports injuries affect mental health in children and adolescents under 20 years old, and how mental health factors influence injury risk. The review found that psychological problems like anxiety and stress are linked to both increased injury risk and negative mental health outcomes after injury. The relationship appears to work both ways: poor mental health increases injury vulnerability, and injuries cause psychological harm. The evidence comes mainly from observational studies, so the review cannot prove that one directly causes the other.
Key points
- Lower psychological well-being, anxiety, stress, fatigue, and sleep disturbance are associated with increased injury occurrence and reduced recovery
- Sports injuries lead to anxiety, depressive symptoms, sleep problems, and reduced quality of life in young athletes
- Injuries are associated with lower confidence, reduced participation in sports, identity disruption, and difficulties returning to play
- Kinesiophobia (fear of movement) and reduced psychological readiness are linked to injury and reinjury
- The relationship between injury and mental health appears bidirectional and involves biological, psychological, and social factors
Limitations
This is a review of existing studies that are predominantly observational in design, so it cannot establish whether sports injuries directly cause mental health problems or whether mental health problems directly cause injuries. The review does not provide evidence on specific interventions to prevent injuries or support recovery.
Abstract
Background: Sports injuries in children and adolescents may affect physical health, emotional well-being, sleep, quality of life, confidence, participation, and readiness to return to sport. Objective: This systematic review aimed to synthesize evidence on the relationship between sports-related injuries and mental health in athletes aged 19 years or younger, considering both psychological factors associated with injury vulnerability and psychosocial outcomes following injury. Methods: The review followed PRISMA 2020 guidelines. PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar were searched from inception to July 2026. Methodological quality was assessed using Joanna Briggs Institute tools, and findings were synthesized narratively. Results: Twenty-one studies were included. Lower psychological well-being, anxiety, stress, fatigue, sleep disturbance, kinesiophobia, and reduced psychological readiness were associated with injury occurrence, symptom burden, recovery, or reinjury. Conversely, sports injuries were associated with anxiety, depressive symptoms, sleep problems, reduced health-related quality of life, lower confidence, altered participation, identity disruption, and difficulties returning to sport. Conclusions: The findings support a potentially bidirectional and biopsychosocial relationship between sports injury and mental health, although heterogeneity and predominantly observational designs limit causal inference.