Is a cognitive-behavioural biofeedback intervention useful to reduce injury risk in junior football players?

Athletes participating in sport are exposed to a relatively high injury risk. Previous research has suggested that it could be possible to reduce sports injuries through psychological skills training. The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which a cognitive behavioural biofeedback intervention could reduce the number of sports injuries in a sample of players in Swedish elite football high schools. Participants from four elite football high schools (16-19 years old) were divided into one experiment (n = 13) and one control group (n = 14). Participants were asked to complete three questionnaires to assess anxiety level (Sport Anxiety Scale), history of stressors (Life Event Scale for Collegiate Athletes) and coping skills (Athletic Coping Skills Inventory - 28) in a baseline measure. Mann-Whitney U-tests showed no significant differences in pre-intervention scores based on the questionnaires. The experimental group participated in a nine-week intervention period consisting of seven sessions, including: somatic relaxation, thought stopping, emotions/problem focused coping, goal setting, biofeedback training as well as keeping a critical incident diary. A Mann-Whitney U test showed no significant difference between the control and experimental group U (n1 = 13, n2 = 14) = 51.00, p = 0.054. However, considering the small sample, the statistical power (0.05 for present study), to detect effects was low. The results of the study are discussed from a psychological perspective and proposals for future research are given. Key pointsCognitive-behavioral training together with biofeedback training seems to be an effective strategy to decrease the occurrence of injuries.More intervention studies should be conducted applying existing biofeedback methodology, especially in the injury preventive area.Future research should develop a bio-psychological injury model aimed at predicting injury occurrence which describes the physiological stress responses and how they can be measured in more detail.