Sports Medicine Psychology encompasses multidisciplinary theory, research, and practice in the psychological, behavioral and social aspects of injury prevention and injury experiences among physically active populations across the lifespan.
Our Sports Medicine Psychology Lab group studies psychological and social factors that relate to sport injury risk, response, and recovery, such as cognitive and emotional responses of athletes to anterior cruciate ligament injury, psychological aspects of sport concussions, narratives of emotional response to overuse injuries among runners, and gender patterns in sport injuries.
We currently have research studies underway in the following broad areas: sport injury psychology, sports performance psychology, and youth sport psychology. School of Kinesiology faculty, graduate students, and undergraduate students collaborate with internal and external partners such as orthopedic surgeons, athletic trainers, sport coaches, and youth sport managers in developing and executing these projects.
Recent Lab News
- Kinesiology PhD student Bridget Sturch presents at Universität Leipzig
- Sturch and Wiese-Bjornstal present at Association for Applied Sport Psychology Annual Meeting
- Wiese-Bjornstal publishes podcast and blog on bridging her knowledge of athletic injury and faith
- Sports Medicine Psychology Lab members co-author in Soccer Journal
- Sports Medicine Psychology Lab members present at Annual Meeting of the Association for Applied Sport Psychology
- Sarah Espinoza appointed to Fellowship Training Program
- Wolfe receives AASP Student Conference Abstract Grant
- School of Kinesiology’s Wiese-Bjornstal publishes about sport injury psychology
- Wiese-Bjornstal publishes article on spirituality with sport injuries
- Wiese-Bjornstal and Principe publish on turfgrass variability and GPS impact
Undergraduate research assistants Samantha Adler and Aly Myers analyzing qualitative data under the direction of Dr. Sarah Espinoza, a 2020 graduate of the School of Kinesiology at the University of Minnesota.
Grad students Andrew White and Kristin Wood, visiting scholar Victor Rubio Ph.D., and lab director Diane Wiese-Bjornstal Ph.D.