Re-injury worry, confidence and attention as predictors of a sport re-injury during a competitive season.

Rehabilitation from sport injury involves not only physical, but also psychological considerations. Re-injury worry, confidence and attention are characteristics that may affect athletes' returning to competition after a sport injury. The study aimed to describe the predictive ability of the re-injury worry, confidence, and attention to the total of re-injuries at the new competitive season. The sample was 80 male athletes with at least three years of competitive experience who had a sport musculoskeletal injury in the last 8 months and had followed properly their physiotherapy program. They were ready for re-entry into competitive sport. They completed on returning to competition: (a) the Causes of the Re-Injury Worry Questionnaire, (b) the Sport Confidence Questionnaire of Rehabilitated Athletes Returning to Competition and (c) the Attention Questionnaire of Rehabilitated Athletes Returning to Competition. The three valid and reliable instruments predict the total of re-injuries at the beginning and at the middle of the competitive season. Future research should be conducted to examine the relationship between the physical and psychological characteristics in re-injury's prediction from different contact sports.