Development and Preliminary Validation of the Sport Injury-Related Growth Inventory

Aligned with future research recommendations (e.g., Wadey & Everard, 2021), the purpose of this multi-study investigation was to construct a measure of athletes’ experiences of growth following sport injury. Study 1 systematically reviewed the literature on sport injury-related growth (SIRG) and extracted a pool of relevant and specific items. In Study 2, a panel of experts (i.e., academics, sport psychologists, and previously injured athletes) was then asked to quantitatively and qualitatively assess the items for relevance, clarity, and specificity. The final study tested the psychometric properties of the instrument on a sample of previously injured athletes (N = 452). The study resulted in a 24-item scale, named the Sport Injury-Related Growth Inventory-24 (SIRGI-24), measuring eight sub-dimensions of SIRG. Satisfactory reliability and construct validity (i.e., factor structure, concurrent validity) were also identified. To conclude, the SIRGI-24 allows researchers and practitioners to assess the SIRG experienced by injured athletes.