Injury concerns, mental endurance levels and related factors of athletes performing combat sports

Purpose: In this study, it was aimed to examine the relationship between these two variables by determining the injury anxiety levels and mental endurance levels of athletes interested in combat sports. Materials and Methods: A total of 423 people (242 males and 181 females) from Antalya, Mersin, Hatay and Adana provinces participated in the study and 24 questionnaire forms were excluded from the evaluation because they showed outlier values. A total of 399 questionnaire forms were evaluated. The data were delivered to the participants via online Google Form and participation was voluntary. The measurement tools in the study consisted of the Personal Information Form prepared by the researcher, the "Sports Injury Anxiety Scale" developed by Rex and Metzler (2016) and adapted into Turkish by Caz, Kayhan and Bardakçı (2019), and the Mental Endurance Inventory developed by Sheard et al. (2009) and adapted into Turkish by Altıntaş and Bayar-Koruç (2016). The findings obtained in the study were evaluated with SPSS 25.0 package program at 95% confidence interval. Results: A statistically significant difference was found in the variables of age, gender, marital status, perceived family income level, nationality status, branch, how many years you have been doing sports, sports branch, previous sports injury treatment. Conclusion: As a result of the analysis, it is seen that the participants' scores of losing ability, perceived weakness and re-injury are at a low level, disappointment and scale total scores are at a medium level, and anxiety about suffering and anxiety about losing social support are at a high level. It was found that the participants' mental resilience levels and all sub-dimensions were at a moderate level, and there was a low level significant and positive relationship between injury anxiety and mental resilience. Key Words: Combat Sports, Injury Anxiety, Mental Resilience, Sports Injury.