Sport injury psychology: An overview and introduction to the special issue

Welcome to this special issue of the Journal of Applied Sport Psychology on Sports Injury Psychology. We introduce this special issue in the knowledge that just over 20 years ago, Britton Brewer was tasked with a similar introduction to write as Guest Editor of the 1998 special issue (Brewer, 1998). At that point in time, Brewer remarked that a special issue was timely given the expanding research interest in sports injury psychology and broadening of the domain to include topics, such as adherence to rehabilitation and interventions to prevent injury. Despite growing interest in the psychology of injury, Brewer highlighted the need for further research, suggesting “there is obviously a great deal more to be learned about the role of psychological factors in the occurrence of and recovery from sports injuries” (p. 2). The previous special edition, therefore, acted as a call to action, challenging researchers to traverse the sports injury landscape, building upon existing knowledge. Nearly 25 years later this special edition opens up a timely question asked by many a traveler, “are we there yet?”