Researcher

Title

Full Professor, Université de Montréal (since August, 2022)

• 2006: Doctor of Philosophy, The University of Western Australia, (UWA), Perth, Australia School of Human Movement and Exercise Science (Sport and Exercise Psychology)
• 2000: Master of Arts, Simon Fraser University, Department of Sociology and Anthropology
• 1998: B.A., Simon Fraser University, Sociology/Anthropology

• Assessing psychological readiness to return to sport after injury. This research focuses on developing valid and reliable assessments to determine athletes’ mental readiness to return to sport after injury. Such assessments can diminish the likelihood that athletes return to sport before they are mental prepared to do so and can reduce the risk of re-injury or other maladaptive outcomes following the return to sport.
• Psychosocial factors contributing to personal growth and resilience following injury. The aim of this research is to identify factors that enable individuals with injury to experience positive benefits following injury. Such benefits could include greater motivation for sport participation, positive relationships with relevant others in the sport environment, and superior sport performances. Knowledge of the factors leading to personal growth and resilience can help coaches and sport medicine providers working with athletes create an environment most likely to elicit the aforementioned benefits.
• Cognitive behavioral interventions for enhancing injured performers’ well-being. This research seeks to examine the potential benefits of various cognitive behavioral interventions (e.g., cognitive reframing, self-awareness) in facilitating athlete well-being following injury, rehabilitation adherence, functional movement patterns, and effective post-injury performance.
• Youth sport injury experiences. This work focuses on the specific challenges, concerns and experiences of youth athletes. In particular, my research group seeks to examine the psychological impact of injury not only on the adolescent experiencing the injury but on the impact of injury on relevant others involved in the adolescent’s care (e.g., coaches, teammates, sport psychologists, parents, etc).

• Assessing psychological readiness to return to sport after injury
• Psychosocial factors contributing to personal growth and resilience following injury
• Cognitive behavioral interventions for enhancing injured athlete well-being
• Youth sport injury experiences
• Optimizing patient-practitioner interactions in rehabilitation settings
• Self-presentation concerns among injured performers

Career Summary

Leslie Podlog is a researcher at CHU Sainte-Justine Research Centre in Montreal and a professor in the School of Kinesiology and Physical Activity Sciences at the Université de Montréal. He has held faculty positions at the University of Utah, Texas Tech University, Charles Sturt University (Australia), and the German Sport University, Cologne. He completed his doctoral studies in Sport and Exercise Psychology at the University of Western Australia, in Perth Australia. He has published extensively on the psychological aspects of return to sport and daily activities following injury. His research has examined individuals across the life-span with a variety of injury types including: musculoskeletal conditions, concussion, and neurological impairments.

Awards and Distinctions

• 100 conference presentations and 51 invited presentations delivered across the globe.
• 113 publications – 88 peer reviewed articles and 25 book chapters
• Secured over $1.7 million in external and intramural grants (US Department of Defense; United States Olympic Committee, Association for Applied Sport Psychology, Salt Lake County Behavioral Health, University of Utah, Charles Sturt University) as PI and Co-I.
• Editorial Board Membership: Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport; Clinical Journal of Sport Psychology; Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports.

Presentations

Podlog, L., Caron, J., Wadey, R., Fraser, J., Ivarsson, A., Heil, J., Podlog, S., & Casucci, T. (October, 2022).  Psychological Readiness to Return to Sport Following Injury: A State-of-the-Art Review. Poster presented at Canadian Society for Psychomotor Learning and Sport Psychology (SCAPPS), Montreal, Quebec Canada.
Cadotte, G., Podlog, L., Collict, C., van Ierssel, J., & Caron, J. G. (June, 2022). Which factors do athletes, coaches, and sport stakeholders believe are involved in returning to sport following a concussion? [Poster presentation]. Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation. Canadian Concussion Network (CCN) 2nd Meeting, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Crofts, R., Morris, A., Jameson, T., Dibble, L.E., Podlog, L., & Fino. P.C. (May, 2022). Psychological readiness to return to sport after concussion. American College of Sports Medicine Annual Meeting (ACSM), San Diego, California.
Podlog, L. (May, 2021). Enhancing Rehabilitation Outcomes: Nutritional and Psychological Approaches to Help the Injured Athlete. Keynote Address, Gatorade Performance Partner Virtual Pre-Conference Presentation at CPSDA’s 13th Annual Conference. Zoom presentation.
Podlog, L (Oct, 2020). Psychology of Sport Injuries – Antecedents, Rehabilitation and Return-to-Competition. Virtual Applied Sport Psychology Summit.

Publications

Caron, J.G., Cadotte, G., Collict, C., van Ierssel, J., & Podlog, L. (in press). Exploring the factors involved in being “ready” to return to sport following a concussion. Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine.

Podlog, L., Wadey, R., Caron, J., Fraser, J.J., Ivarsson, A., Heil, J., Podlog, S., & Casucci, T (2022). Psychological Readiness to Return to Sport Following Injury: A State-of-the-Art Review. International Review of Sport and Exercise Psychology.

Adam Gledhill, A., Forsdyke, D., Goom, T., & Podlog, L. (2021). Educate, involve, and collaborate: Three practitioner strategies to empower athletes during return to sport. British Journal of Sports Medicine. doi: 10.1136/bjsports-2021-104268. 

Hall, M.S., Podlog, L., Newton., M, Galli, N., Fritz, J., Butner, J., Greviskes, L., & Hammer, C. Patient and practitioner perspectives of psychological need support in physical therapy. (2020). Physiotherapy Theory and Practice. DOI: 10.1080/09593985.2020.1780654

Rubio, V.J., Quartiroli, A., Podlog, L., & Olmedilla, A. (2020). Understanding the dimensions of personal growth following a severe sport injury: A DELPHI method approach. PLOS One, 15(6), e0235149. https://doi. org/10.1371/journal.pone.0235149.

Podlog, L., Heil, J., Burns, R.D., Bergeson, S., & Williams, A.M., Fawver, B. (2020, online). A cognitive behavioral intervention for collegiate athletes with injuries. The Sport Psychologist, 34(2), 111-121. 

D’Astous, E., Podlog, L., Newton, M., & Burns, R (2020). An exploration of college athletes’ motivation and return-to-sport outcomes after injury. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(9), DOI: 10.3390/ijerph17092980.

Hall, M. S., Podlog, L., Newton, M., Galli, N., Fritz, J., & Butner, J. (2019, online). The basic psychological need support in physical therapy questionnaire. Physiotherapy Theory and Practice, 37(12), 1-10.

Hammer, C., Podlog, L., Galli, N., Wadey, R., Forber-Pratt, A., Newton, M., Greviskes, L. E., & Hall, M. S. (2019). Understanding posttraumatic growth of para sport athletes with acquired disability. Disability and Rehabilitation. 41(6), 674-682. doi: 10.1080/09638288.2017.1402961

Greviskes, L.E., Podlog, L., Jackson, B., Dimmock, J., Newton, M., Dibble, L.E., Burns, R.D., Pillow, W. (2018). Caring climate, tripartite efficacy, and rehabilitation adherence in individuals with Parkinson’s Disease: A Multiple Mediation Analysis. Journal of Geriatric Physical Therapy, 43(3), 16-24.DOI: 10.1519/JPT.0000000000000211