Examining Injury-Related Differences in Motivation Sources in NCAA Division II Student-Athletes during COVID-19

Introduction: Few studies have explored motivation using the Self-Determination Theory in injured collegiate student-athletes (SAs). The purpose of this research was to assess differences in six motivation sources during the COVID-19 pandemic between SAs who experienced an injury versus those that did not. It was hypothesized that differences would be seen in intrinsic-based motivation between injured and non-injured SAs with non-injured SAs demonstrating higher intrinsic motivation. Methods:  NCAA Division II SAs (n=158) from 12 teams composed of injured (n=66) and non-injured (n=92) SAs were recruited to complete an online demographics/historical questionnaire and the 18-item Sport Motivation Scale II measuring six motivation sources at one time point: intrinsic, integrated, identified, introjected, external, and amotivation regulation/motivation. Independent samples t-tests were performed with an alpha level of p≤0.05 to examine differences for each motivation source. Results: No significant differences were observed between injured and non-injured SAs among the six motivation sources, respectively (p>0.05). Specifically, no intrinsic motivation differences were observed between the injured (15.89±3.88) and non-injured SAs (16.22±3.68, t(154)=-0.53, p=0.60). Conclusions: Study findings suggested no difference between the SA groups indicating that the collegiate athletics professionals worked diligently and equally with injured and non-injured SA’s motivation and care during the pandemic.