ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Sport Psychology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1698313
This article is part of the Research TopicAdvances in Sports Science: Latest Findings and New Scientific Proposals- Volume IVView all articles
Psychological Predictors of Sports Injuries in Elite Sky Athletes: A Multidimensional Analysis of Personality, Anxiety, Depression and Inflexibility
Provisionally accepted
Sara Mogedano-Cruz*
Vicente Clemente-SuárezRafael Jácome-LópezFernando García-SanzLaura González-Fernández
Ángel González-de-la-Flor
Carlos Romero-Morales- Faculty of Biomedical Sciences and Health, European University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Introduction: Injuries among elite alpine sky athletes can lead to both physical and psychological consequences. While previous studies have pointed out how emotional factors can influence the risk of injuries, there hasn't been much investigation into how different psychological elements relate to the overall injury burden. Methods: This study aimed to evaluate how traits like neuroticism, anxiety, depression, psychological inflexibility, loneliness, and conscientiousness predict the frequency and severity of injuries in professional skiers. Additionally, it sought to identify psychological profiles that might indicate a higher risk of injury. We conducted a cross-sectional, observational, and analytical study involving 50 active professional alpine skiers. The data were analyzed using Poisson regression for injury frequency, multiple linear regression for perceived injury severity, and K-means cluster analysis to identify different psychological profiles. Results: The findings revealed that neuroticism (Exp(β) = 1.15, p = .026) and psychological inflexibility (Exp(β) = 1.09, p = .041) were significant predictors of injury frequency. Perceived injury severity was associated with depressive symptoms (β = .34, p = .009), inflexibility (β = .26, p = .034) and neuroticism (β = .21, p = .048). We identified three distinct psychological profiles: resilient, average and vulnerable, with the vulnerable group experiencing the highest injury burden (p < .05). Conclusions: Certain psychological traits, especially neuroticism, inflexibility, and depressive symptoms are associated with an increased risk and severity of injuries. By identifying these psychological risk profiles, we can develop targeted interventions to prevent injuries and support recovery. It's essential to incorporate psychological assessments into health and performance programs for athletes engaged in high-demand sports.
Keywords: alpine skiing, sports injuries, neuroticism, Mental Health, Psychological profile, injury prevention
Received: 03 Sep 2025; Accepted: 20 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Mogedano-Cruz, Clemente-Suárez, Jácome-López, García-Sanz, González-Fernández, González-de-la-Flor and Romero-Morales. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Sara Mogedano-Cruz, sara.mogedano@universidadeuropea.es
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.