Conclusion

Student-athletes may experience and react to injuries in many different ways. With higher risks of depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation after injury (Koren et al., 2005; Sheinbein, 2016), it is imperative for athletic trainers, coaches, medical personnel, and sport psychologists and social workers to understand injured student-athletes’ experiences and develop appropriate intervention strategies. With the addition of COVID-19, communication and access to rehabilitation resources were restricted, causing more distress and delay in the student-athletes’ rehabilitation process. This study allowed for a greater understanding of how injured student-athletes are navigating the COVID-19 pandemic and how their rehabilitation is impacting their psychosocial well-being. Those working with student-athletes directly must be willing to learn, develop, and implement appropriate support strategies and resources for injured student-athletes to help them overcome the physical and mental stress of sport injury rehabilitation and understand how those feelings can intensify during a pandemic.