Date of Award

May 2023

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Department

Kinesiology

First Advisor

Monna Arvinen-Barrow

Abstract

Patellofemoral pain (PFP) is a specific type of patellar or retropatellar pain aggravated by at least one physical activity that loads the patellofemoral joint during weight bearing on a flexed knee such as running (Crossley et al., 2016). Previous PFP research has highlighted the importance of psychosocial variables among PFP populations including recreational runners (Vicenzino et al., 2022). Upon reviewing the existing literature, much of it appears to be atheoretical and lack construct clarity. The purpose of this dissertation was to explore the perceived psychosocial experiences of recreational runners with PFP. This dissertation aimed to (1) document recreational runners’ perceived psychosocial experiences with PFP; (2) develop a theoretical model that conceptualizes recreational runners’ perceived psychosocial experiences with PFP; and (3) critically evaluate the applicability of existing theoretical models of psychological responses to sport injury in conceptualizing recreational runners’ perceived psychosocial experiences with PFP. Ten recreational runners with PFP (n = 4 females, n = 6 males) participated in semi-structured interviews. A Straussian Grounded Theory methodology (Corbin & Strauss, 2015) was used to develop the Conceptual Framework for Psychosocial Experiences of Recreational Runners with Patellofemoral Pain. The conceptual framework suggests recreational runners are individuals Who have prominent personal characteristics that influence their perceived psychosocial experiences of recreational running with PFP. Dominant psychosocial responses are What recreational runners experience when running with PFP. Those experiences interrelate with How they address the perceived cause of their psychosocial responses and the reasons Why they respond the ways in which they do. Each category was described with pertinent connections to Psychosocial Outcomes. Following a comparative method analysis (Pennings et al., 2006), it was concluded that the conceptual framework has an all-encompassing presence that uses simple language to concisely conceptualize the perceived psychosocial experiences of recreational runners with PFP. The conceptual framework developed in this dissertation can be beneficial for future psychosocial PFP research to increase theoretical and construct clarity.

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