Beyond physical recovery: investigating athletic identity as a mediator between social support and psychological readiness for return to sport

ObjectiveDespite consensus on the positive relationships between social support, psychological readiness for returning to sport, and athletic identity, debate persists regarding the specific impact of these factors on athletes’ athletic identity and psychological readiness. This study investigated athletic identity as a mediator between social support and psychological readiness for returning to sport.MethodThe research involved two phases. In Phase 1, four bilingual translators translated the Athletic Identity Scale and the Injury-Psychological Readiness to Return to Sport scale into Chinese using the forward-backward translation. A pilot study assessed the scales’ face validity with 30 athletes who had experienced injuries. In Phase 2, 234 injured athletes (age: M = 19.28, SD = 1.98) completed the translated measurements from Phase I and the existing Chinese version of the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support.ResultsFindings showed a positive correlation between social support and both athletic identity and psychological readiness. However, athletic identity did not mediate the relationship between social support and psychological readiness.ConclusionsWe recommend using various measurement tools to capture psychological readiness, particularly in the later return-to-sport stages and suggest that coaches and teammates hold welcome ceremonies to enhance psychological readiness and athletic identity through social support.