Incidence of Sport Injury in Collegiate Female Athletes Across the Four Phases of the Menstrual Cycle

Previous published investigations into the relationship between the menstrual cycle and sport behavior have focused on physiological variables associated with incidence of injury, specifically ACL laxity. More recent research has begun to look at the psychological nature of injury in sport and psychological variables that may influence the likelihood of athletic injury. This thesis research examines the link between psychological constructs reported by others to be associated with hormonal fluctuations during the menstrual cycle and incidence of sport injury. It was hypothesized that there would be a greater incidence of athletic injury during the third and fourth phases of the menstrual cycle, that there would be no differences in incidence of injury across class standing (freshman, sophomore, junior, senior), and that there would be no differences in incidence of injury between athletes who took pain medication for suppression of menstrual pain with athletes who did not take pain medication. Results suggest that female athletes may have a propensity to injury during the third and fourth phases of the menstrual cycle, that there are no differences in incidence of injury related to class standing, and that there are no differences between pain medication and non-pain medication groups.