Stage-based approaches
What is it?
The stage-based approaches suggest an athlete's progression though the five stages of reaction to injury in a
predictable pattern. Of the stage-based approaches, the most popular is the Kubler-Ross (1969) Grief Response
Model. This was originally created to describe a patient’s experience of terminal illness but has been applied to
sports injury.
Stage theories propose that behaviour change is not a continuous process but instead that it occurs through a series
of qualitatively different stages. They also propose that the barriers people face in trying to change their behaviour
will be different at different stages. The implication of this approach for behaviour change is that one type of
intervention would not be expected to work for everyone, because the barriers people encounter is different at each
stage. Instead, these models propose that interventions will be most effective when they are tailored to an
individual’s current stage in the progression. The number of stages proposed vary between models, but they all
distinguish between three classes of individual:
Those who have not yet decided to change their behaviour
Those who have decided to change
Those who are already changing
The time spent at each stage varies according to the athlete’s psychological factors and the support that they have
access to. An athlete that progresses through the stages more quickly will recover psychological from the injury
experience in a shorter period.
What are the five stages of reaction to injury?
There are five grief response stages that an individual associates with stage-based approaches.
Are there many problems when applying the model to sports injuries?
In another stage-based approach, Udry et al. (1997) suggested all injured athletes progress through three categories
of response. Some athletes will progress through theses more quickly than others.
1. Injury-relevant information processing stage: where the athlete wants as much information about the
injury as possible. For example, what is involved in the recovery and when they can return to playing. It is
the stage with the greatest negative emotions as they realise the disruption the injury will cause.
2. Emotional upheaval and reactive behaviour stage: where the athlete has intense emotions such as being
agitated, irritable and physically tired. An athlete might feel isolated from the team while being anxious.
What is it?
The stage-based approaches suggest an athlete's progression though the five stages of reaction to injury in a
predictable pattern. Of the stage-based approaches, the most popular is the Kubler-Ross (1969) Grief Response
Model. This was originally created to describe a patient’s experience of terminal illness but has been applied to
sports injury.
Stage theories propose that behaviour change is not a continuous process but instead that it occurs through a series
of qualitatively different stages. They also propose that the barriers people face in trying to change their behaviour
will be different at different stages. The implication of this approach for behaviour change is that one type of
intervention would not be expected to work for everyone, because the barriers people encounter is different at each
stage. Instead, these models propose that interventions will be most effective when they are tailored to an
individual’s current stage in the progression. The number of stages proposed vary between models, but they all
distinguish between three classes of individual:
Those who have not yet decided to change their behaviour
Those who have decided to change
Those who are already changing
The time spent at each stage varies according to the athlete’s psychological factors and the support that they have
access to. An athlete that progresses through the stages more quickly will recover psychological from the injury
experience in a shorter period.
What are the five stages of reaction to injury?
There are five grief response stages that an individual associates with stage-based approaches.
Are there many problems when applying the model to sports injuries?
In another stage-based approach, Udry et al. (1997) suggested all injured athletes progress through three categories
of response. Some athletes will progress through theses more quickly than others.
1. Injury-relevant information processing stage: where the athlete wants as much information about the
injury as possible. For example, what is involved in the recovery and when they can return to playing. It is
the stage with the greatest negative emotions as they realise the disruption the injury will cause.
2. Emotional upheaval and reactive behaviour stage: where the athlete has intense emotions such as being
agitated, irritable and physically tired. An athlete might feel isolated from the team while being anxious.
