Psychological skills and adherence to rehabilitation after reconstruction of the anterior cruciate ligament

Objective: To examine the relationship between self-reported use of psychological skills and rehabilitation adherence. Design: Prospective correlational design. Setting: Outpatient physical-therapy clinic specializing in sports medicine. Patients: Fifty-four patients (17 women and 37 men) undergoing rehabilitation after anterior-cruciate-ligament reconstruction. Main Outcome Measures: An abbreviated version of the Sports Injury Survey (levleva & Orlick, 1991) was administered approximately 5 weeks after surgery to assess use of goal setting, imagery, and positive self-talk. Four adherence measures were obtained during the remainder of rehabilitation: attendance at rehabilitation sessions, practitioner ratings of patient adherence at rehabilitation sessions, patient self-reports of home exercise completion, and patient self-reports of home cryotherapy completion. Results: Goal setting was positively associated with home exercise completion and practitioner adherence ratings. Positive self-talk was positively correlated with home exercise completion. Conclusions: Use of certain psychological skills might contribute to better adherence to sport-injury rehabilitation protocols.