The relationship Between the Level of Mental Skills and Incidence of Sports Injuries in Elite Young Soccer Players: Prospective Study

Soccer, as well as many other sports, requires high levels of psychological skills. However, there are limited studies about the relationship of mental skills and sports injuries. Thus, the aim of this study was to analyze the relationship between the level of mental skills of elite young soccer players and the incidence sports injuries. Sixty-six players from four teams that playing at Tehran Asia vision adolescence primer league (14-16 years old) participated in this study. Before entering the season, the participants completed the Ottawa Mental Skills Assessment Tool (OMSAT-3), which measures 12 mental skill subscales. Players were monitored for musculoskeletal injuries through the season (7-month period). The overall injury rate was 8.7 injuries/1000 player-hours (95% CI 7.01-10.10). Logistic regression modeling indicated that overall OMSAT-3 score (OR = 0.663; 95% CI = 0.42-1.83) (p=0.047) and somatic subscale score (OR = 1.207; 95% CI = 1.03-3.70) (p=0.004) were all associated with injuries but no association was found in other subscales. The results indicated that; mental skills were the significant predictor of the number of injuries. Evidence from this study suggests that injury prevention efforts need to include strategies targeting the psychological risk factors.