Diane Wiese-Bjornstal, Ph. D.
Professor, School of Kinesiology
Lab Director
Research interests: Sports medicine psychology, youth sport science
☎ 612-625-6580
✉ [email protected]
My primary line of research is in sports medicine psychology, encompassing 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 Laboratory group studies psychological and social factors that relate to physical activity injury risk, response and recovery, such as religiosity in coping with sport injury, cognitive and emotional responses of athletes to anterior cruciate ligament injury, psychological aspects of sport concussions, narratives of emotional response to microtrauma injuries among runners, and gender patterns in sport injuries.
My second major interest is youth sport science, focusing on children, youth and adolescents in sport and the psychological, social, and physical factors that affect their health and well-being at all levels of participation. In 2009-2011 I headed a federally funded study that involved an exchange of coaching educators involved in training youth soccer coaches from across Uganda. My affiliation with the Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport has allowed me the chance to collaborate on multiple educational and civic engagement efforts geared towards youth sport science, including my appearance in a television documentary on concussion prevention and care among female athletes and writing significant portions of published reports on developing physically active girls.