Innovations in Youth and Adolescent Athlete Injury Prevention and Rehabilitation

A special issue of Journal of Functional Morphology and Kinesiology (ISSN 2411-5142). This special issue belongs to the section "Athletic Training and Human Performance".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 28 February 2025 | Viewed by 4697

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
1. Division of Sports Medicine, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Louisville, 9880 Angies Way #250, Louisville, KY 40241, USA
2. Norton Orthopedic Institute, Louisville, KY, USA
Interests: sports medicine; physical therapy; knee; rehabilitation; physical rehabilitation; biomechanics; sports injuries; kinesiology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Youth and adolescent athletes are a unique, under-served patient population with a high risk of injury and re-injury. Sports injuries in this group can exert a profound influence on long-term musculoskeletal health, behavioral health, and quality of life.

The World Health Organization defines health as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” To better prevent injury or re-injury, improve post-surgical and rehabilitation outcomes, improve sports performance, or optimize the long-term health and quality of life of youth and adolescent athletes, it is imperative that primary and secondary sports injury prevention and rehabilitation strategies continue to advance. This Special Issue of the Journal of Functional Morphology and Kinesiology seeks to assemble clinical scientists, researchers, and healthcare practitioners with diverse expertise and backgrounds to develop a forum that exchanges groundbreaking intervention ideas, practical innovations, and conceptual methodologies.

This Special Issue hopes to encompass original research, evidence-based reviews, case studies, and clinical perspectives that either present compelling evidence for immediate application or clearly demonstrate how practical strategies can be accelerated to reduce the influence of this developing public health crisis.

Dr. John Nyland
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • sports injury rehabilitation
  • innovative strategies
  • exercise therapy
  • biomechanical evaluations
  • physiological interventions
  • psychological strategies
  • emerging technologies
  • musculoskeletal recuperation
  • holistic methods
  • public health

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Review

20 pages, 776 KiB  
Review
Youth and Adolescent Athlete Musculoskeletal Health: Dietary and Nutritional Strategies to Optimise Injury Prevention and Support Recovery
by Rebekah Alcock, Matthew Hislop, Helen Anna Vidgen and Ben Desbrow
J. Funct. Morphol. Kinesiol. 2024, 9(4), 221; https://doi.org/10.3390/jfmk9040221 - 5 Nov 2024
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Abstract
Background: Despite the well-documented benefits of exercise and sports participation, young athletes are particularly vulnerable to musculoskeletal injuries. This is especially true during periods of rapid growth, sports specialisation, and high training loads. While injuries are an inevitable aspect of sports participation, the [...] Read more.
Background: Despite the well-documented benefits of exercise and sports participation, young athletes are particularly vulnerable to musculoskeletal injuries. This is especially true during periods of rapid growth, sports specialisation, and high training loads. While injuries are an inevitable aspect of sports participation, the risk can be minimised by promoting the development of strong, resilient tissues through proper nutrition and injury prevention strategies. Moreover, targeted nutrition strategies can accelerate recovery and rehabilitation, allowing for a quicker return to sports participation. Methods: This narrative review synthesises scientific evidence with practical insights to offer comprehensive dietary recommendations aimed at strengthening tissues and supporting the healing process during recovery and rehabilitation. The selection of all sources cited and synthesised in this narrative review were agreed upon by contributing author consensus, experts in sports nutrition (R.A., H.V., B.D.) and exercise and sports medicine (M.H.). Results: Key topics include factors that contribute to injury susceptibility, general dietary recommendations for growth and development, sports nutrition guidelines, and nutrition considerations during injury and rehabilitation. This review also addresses external factors that may lead to suboptimal nutrition, such as food literacy and eating disorders. Conclusions: By highlighting these factors, this article aims to equip coaches, nutritionists, dietitians, athletic trainers, physical therapists, parents/guardians, sporting organisations, and schools with essential knowledge to implement effective nutritional strategies for injury prevention, recovery, and rehabilitation, ultimately enhancing long-term health and athletic performance. Full article
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12 pages, 550 KiB  
Review
Athletic Identity and Sport Injury Processes and Outcomes in Young Athletes: A Supplemental Narrative Review
by Britton W. Brewer and Hailey A. Chatterton
J. Funct. Morphol. Kinesiol. 2024, 9(4), 191; https://doi.org/10.3390/jfmk9040191 - 9 Oct 2024
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Abstract
Background: Identity formation, a primary developmental task of adolescence, may be particularly relevant to another commonly occurring event for young athletes—sport injury. Relationships between a subdimension of self-identity—athletic identity—and sport injury processes and outcomes have been documented in the general athlete population. [...] Read more.
Background: Identity formation, a primary developmental task of adolescence, may be particularly relevant to another commonly occurring event for young athletes—sport injury. Relationships between a subdimension of self-identity—athletic identity—and sport injury processes and outcomes have been documented in the general athlete population. The purpose of this supplemental narrative review is to explore the potential role of athletic identity in the risk of injury occurrence and responses to and consequences of injury among young athletes. Methods: Studies on athletic identity in relation to sport injury, with a focus on young athletes, were extracted from a recent scoping review and identified through an updated literature search from April 2020 through June 2024. A total of 23 studies were examined. Results: Across the studies reviewed, high levels of athletic identity were associated with a reluctance to report injury-related symptoms, a tendency to endorse attitudes and behaviors reflecting a willingness to play through pain and injury, intensified physical and psychological symptoms after injury, a disposition toward over-adhering to rehabilitation, high levels of postinjury coping skills, and better functional and return-to-sport outcomes after injury among young athletes. Conclusions: Athletic identity may, therefore, be a source of both strength and vulnerability in young athletes in terms of sport injury processes and outcomes. Full article
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