Is there a correlation between levels of incapability and athletic identity?

Objectives: Among people seeking sports-specific musculoskeletal specialty care we sought to determine 1) whether level of athletic identity mediates or moderates the relationship between thoughts and feelings and levels of capability and pain intensity, and 2) whether levels of pain intensity and capability differ among statistical groupings based on age and mindsets including athletic identity. Methods: Adult patients seeing a sports medicine specialist (n = 135) completed measures of levels of capability, pain intensity, thoughts and feelings regarding sensation, and identification as an athlete. We planned mediation/moderation analysis. When that was not feasible, weadded an unplanned, exploratory cluster analysis of mindset factors. Results: The lack of correlation between athletic identity and levels of capability and pain intensity precluded moderation/mediation analysis. An exploratory cluster analysis suggested that relatively younger people who identify as athletes and middle-aged people with somewhat greater feelings of distress may have greater pain intensity on average. Conclusions: The finding that feelings of distress, independent of athletic identity, are associated with greater pain intensity and incapability is consistent with evidence that mindsets are a key aspect of musculoskeletal health, perhaps independent of specific identities.