Mood Dimensions as Predictors of Injury in Taekwondo* Willy Pieter1, Rebecca S. K. Wong2, W.

Zairatulnas3 and Jin Seng Thung4 School of Health Sciences, Science University of Malaysia, Kubang Kerian, Kelantan, Malaysia1 Sport Psychology Unit, National Sports Institute of Malaysia, National Sports Council of Malaysia, Bukit Jalil Sports Complex, Sri Petaling, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia2 Faculty of Sports Science and Recreation, Mara University Institute of Technology, Arau, Perlis, Malaysia3 Conditioning Unit, National Sports Institute of Malaysia, National Sports Council of Malaysia, Bukit Jalil Sports Complex, Sri Petaling, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia4 Keywords: Mood, taekwondo, injury. Introduction Research has been conducted on injuries in taekwondo, mostly pertaining to those incurred at competitions. For instance, British boys (< 13 years) recorded a lower injury rate (66.67 injuries/1,000 athlete-exposures) than their junior colleagues (13-16 years, 108.11 injuries/1,000 athlete-exposures). One athlete-exposure (A-E) is the chance of an athlete to sustain an injury while competing. The junior girls (117.65 injuries/1,000 A-E) did not incur more injuries than their younger counterparts (78.95 injuries/1,000 A-E), even though the rate of the former was higher (Pieter, Bercades and Heijmans, 1998). The authors suggested that this may be due to the small sample size of the females. Beis, Tsaklis, Pieter and Abatzides (2001) reported Greek junior boys (14-17 years, 48.21 injuries/1,000 A-E) and girls (68.97 injuries/1,000 A-E) to sustain more competition injuries than adult men (> 18 years, 20.55 injuries/1,000 A-E) and women (36.41 injuries/1,000 A-E), respectively. Studies have also been carried out on mood states in taekwondo. Pieter, Mateo and Bercades (2000) found winning Filipino male varsity taekwondo athletes to score lower on depression (1.36 vs. 3.04) and to be less fatigued (3.57 vs. 5.71) than their losing colleagues. No differences in any of the mood dimensions were apparent in their female counterparts. Ampongan and Pieter (2004) investigated 13-year old Filipino depressed male and female taekwondo athletes and reported that the losing boys (6.08) were more confused than the winners (3.38). There were no differences in mood between winning and losing girls. However, to the best of our knowledge, no information is available on mood states as risk factors for taekwondo competition injuries. The purpose of this study, therefore, was to assess to what extent psychological mood can predict injuries in taekwondo competition. Method Participants Subjects (89 females, 18.701.46 years; 97 males, 19.061.42 years) were recruited from the 2004 Malaysian Games. Measures The short form of the Profile of Mood States (POMS, Terry, Lane, Lane and Keohane, 1999) was administered one hour before competition. The shortened POMS is a 24item questionnaire consisting of six subscales: Tension, Depression, Anger, Vigor, Fatigue and Confusion. The taekwondo athletes ranked each descriptor on a 5-point Likert-type scale using the How are you feeling right now? format. Injuries were collected with simple check-off forms that describe the athlete, nature, location and severity of the injury (e.g., Zemper and Pieter, 1989). All injuries were
Pieter, W., Wong, R. S. K., Zairatulnas, W. and Thung, J. S. (2005), Mood dimensions as predictors of injury in taekwondo, International Society of Sport Psychology (ISSP) 11 th World Congress of Sport Psychology, Sydney, Australia, August 15-19.

diagnosed by the tournament physician. The athletes were divided into injured and noninjured groups. Win-loss records were used as a global marker of performance. The modal depression score of zero was used to subdivide the subjects into a depression and nondepression group by performance within gender. Due to small sample sizes, the analysis was restricted to the depressed group. Data analysis To determine the differences in mood between injured and non-injured depressed athletes within gender and within performance, a 1-way MANOVA was employed. Discriminant analysis was then used for the presence or absence of injury with the mood dimensions as risk factors within gender by performance. The level of significance was set at 0.05. Results Within the depressed female losers, the injured group scored higher on Anger (3.333.87 vs. 0.761.13, p=0.001, eta2=0.22), Fatigue (4.333.08 vs. 2.131.83, p=0.007, eta2=0.15) and Confusion (5.333.61 vs. 2.612.28, p=0.006, eta2=0.15). 83.0% were correctly classified as injured or not injured (Eigenvalue=0.359, Canonical R=0.514, Wilks =0.736, 23=13.342, p=0.004) with 86.8% as non-injured and 66.7% as injured. In the depressed boy winners, those who were injured were more fatigued (4.333.46 vs. 1.871.96, p=0.035, eta2=0.19). 62.5% were correctly classified as injured or not injured based on fatigue only (Eigenvalue=0.229, Canonical R=0.431, Wilks =0.814, 21=4.426, p=0.035). Discussion Previous research suggested that winning as opposed to losing karate athletes (karateka) scored higher on anger to psych themselves up (e.g., McGowan, Pierce and Jordan, 1992). Wong, Vellapandian, Thung and Pieter (2004) also reported high anger to be related to winning performances in Malaysian female karateka. Terry and Slade (1995) showed that 92% of British male karateka could be correctly classified as winners or losers based on their profiles of mood states. Confusion, depression, tension and fatigue were especially important in distinguishing between winners and losers with the former scoring lower. Higher depression and fatigue were also found in losing male Filipino varsity taekwondo athletes (Pieter et al., 2000). The present study seems to suggest that high levels of anger, fatigue and confusion may have negative effects and lead to injuries. It is suggested that the effect of anger on performance is mediated by depression. For instance, Lane, Terry, Karageorghis and Lawson (1999) investigated male kickboxers and found tension and anger to be related to losing in the depressed group, while this was not the case in the non-depressed kickboxers. In other words, only in non-depressed individuals will anger be positively related to performance. If tension and anger are high in a depressed group, they may lead to injury as shown in the current study. Since the effect sizes reported in the current investigation are small, future research should use a multi-factorial approach to model injury risk factors in taekwondo. For instance, it may very well be that the effect of psychological mood on injury occurrence in taekwondo is mediated by physiological strength and conditioning. References Ampongan, C. & Pieter, W. (2004). Depression and performance in young Filipino taekwondo athletes. 3rd College of Human Kinetics Science Conference, University of the Philippines, Diliman, QC, Philippines, October 25-27.
Pieter, W., Wong, R. S. K., Zairatulnas, W. and Thung, J. S. (2005), Mood dimensions as predictors of injury in taekwondo, International Society of Sport Psychology (ISSP) 11 th World Congress of Sport Psychology, Sydney, Australia, August 15-19.

Beis, K., Tsaklis, P., Pieter, W. & Abatzides, G. (2001). Taekwondo competition injuries in Greek young and adult athletes. European Journal of Sports Traumatology and Related Research, 23, 130-136. Lane, A. M., Terry, P. C., Karageorghis, C. I. & Lawson, J. (1999). Mood states as predictors of kickboxing performance: A test of a conceptual model. Journal of Sports Sciences, 17, 57-58. McGowan, R. W., Pierce, E. F. & Jordan, D. (1992). Differences in precompetitive mood states between black belt ranks. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 75, 123-128. Pieter, W., Bercades, L. T. & Heijmans, J. (1998). Injuries in young and adult taekwondo athletes. Kinesiology, 30, 22-30. Pieter, W., Mateo, C. & Bercades, L. T. (2000). Mood and performance in Filipino national and varsity taekwondo athletes. 1st World Congress on Combat Sports and Martial Arts, Universit de Picardie Jules Verne, Facult de Sciences du Sport, Amiens, France, March 31-April 2. Terry, P. C., Lane, A. M., Lane, H. J. & Keohane, L. (1999). Development and validation of a mood measure for adolescents. Journal of Sports Sciences, 17, 861-872. Terry, P. & Slade, A. (1995). Discriminant effectiveness of psychological state measures in predicting performance outcome in karate competition. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 81: 275-286. Wong, R. S. K., Vellapandian, P., Thung, J. S. & Pieter, W. (2004). Mood and performance in young Malaysian karateka. 1st Regional Conference on Human Performance, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, November 30-December 2. Zemper, E. D. & Pieter, W. (1989). Injury rates during the 1988 US Olympic Team Trials for taekwondo. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 23, 161-164.
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This study was supported by a grant from the National Sports Institute of Malaysia/National Sports Council of Malaysia [MSNM 05-01-47(49), WP and TJS principal investigators].

Pieter, W., Wong, R. S. K., Zairatulnas, W. and Thung, J. S. (2005), Mood dimensions as predictors of injury in taekwondo, International Society of Sport Psychology (ISSP) 11 th World Congress of Sport Psychology, Sydney, Australia, August 15-19.