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Distinct self-regulation patterns differentiate runners by recent injury history and current injury status: A cross-sectional study of Australian runners

Leonie Walter, Henry Cohen, Raimundo Sánchez, Luuk P. van Iperen, Melissa A. Day, Manuela Besomi · Physical Therapy in Sport · 2026

Researchers surveyed 335 Australian runners and sorted them into four groups based on how recently they'd been injured, then compared their mental strategies, passion for running, and how they respond to pain. Runners who were currently or recently injured reported higher physical and emotional demands, more anxious overthinking, and less helpful pain responses, while never-injured runners had lower demands, more mental resources, fewer negative pain reactions, and more running experience.
Takeaway: Pay attention to mounting emotional demands, overthinking, and how you react to pain, not just training load, when managing running injury risk.
Abstract (source)

Objective: To examine self-regulation strategies, passion, and pain responses among runners with distinct injury recency profiles.

Design: Cross-sectional study. SETTING: Online survey. PARTICIPANTS: 335 runners (50.5% male; median age 39 years, IQR 29-51). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Demands, resources, and recovery (DISQ-R Sport 1.2); metacognition (Self-Regulation of Sport Practice Survey); 12-month injury severity (OSTRC-H2); passion (Passion Scale); and pain responses (Pain Responses Scale).

Results: Participants were grouped into four profiles: currently (n = 85), recently (n = 115), previously (n = 90), and never injured (n = 45). Currently and recently injured runners reported higher physical/emotional demands, evaluative overthinking, and maladaptive pain responses. Previously injured runners showed stronger cognitive/emotional recovery strategies, but high passion combined with frequent event participation increased remote-injury classification likelihood. Never-injured runners were characterized by lower demands, greater cognitive resources, fewer negative pain responses, older age, and more running experience.

Conclusions: Distinct patterns of self-regulation, passion, and pain responses differentiate recent injury history profiles in runners. Integrating psychological and behavioural factors with physical training may improve understanding of psychological correlates across distinct injury histories and support more holistic strategies tailored to the runner's current injury status.

Primary studyOpen accessRecovery & SleepInjury Prevention & Rehab
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