Gender differences in the effect of received social support on recovering from a sport’s injury

Abstract

Aim – The study looked to find out more from the gender differences that exist in received social support during injury rehabilitation. The rationale of the study was to add to previous research because whether gender differences in social support when recovering from an injury actually exist is still unclear. The research could also help athletes coping in future injury rehabilitation processes. Method – The study utilised qualitative semi-structured interviews in order to gain rich information on the injured athletes social support experiences. Findings - The study found that males and females differed in the type of social support they believed to be the most effective. Females suggested emotional support as the most effective, where as males suggested informational support. Another finding was that females suggested friends to be providers of their emotional support, whereas males did not. A further finding was that females looked to mobilise or seek their support more than males. The implications for this could be that males should look to seek their support more often and also look to receive more emotional support due to the benefits this type of support could have. Research in the future should come into looking at how to train an athlete’s social support network to maximise the support they provide.