Areas of specialization

Sport and exercise psychology

Research interests

Psychology of sport injury, Youth sport

Diane M. Wiese-Bjornstal, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor in the School of Kinesiology and affiliated scholar with the Tucker Center for Research on Girls and Women in Sport and a collaborative member of the Minnesota Youth Sport Research Consortium. From 1982 to 1984 she taught in the physical education majors’ program and head coached women’s intercollegiate volleyball and softball at Northwestern College, Orange City, IA. At the University of Minnesota since 1988, Dr. Wiese-Bjornstal teaches graduate level courses in sport & exercise psychology, competitive sport for children and youth, and the psychology of sport injury, and has advised more than forty graduate students to completion. Dr. Wiese-Bjornstal has published and presented in a variety of forums on her innovative line of work exploring the psychological responses of athletes to sport injury; she is co-editor of the related book, Counseling in Sports Medicine. Her scholarship about multidisciplinary aspects of sport and physical activity participation among children and youth has appeared in a variety of sport psychology, sports medicine, and physical activity publications. She has presented at coaching education workshops and in many other civic forums. Her professional service has included being on the editorial boards of several journals, such as the Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, and Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport. She is a fellow of the Association for Applied Sport Psychology (AASP) and of the Research Consortium of the American Alliance of Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance (AAHPERD), and is an AASP Certified Consultant in Sport Psychology. In 2009 she was named for a three year term to the Sport Science Advisory Board of the national President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sport. Civic engagement related to her professional expertise has included volunteering her time as a youth volleyball coach, serving as a local volleyball club board member, and along with her husband Carl, raising two young athletes of her own.

Academic degrees

• Ph.D., University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, 1989
  Major: physical education; Emphases: sport psychology, biomechanics
• M.S., Springfield College, Springfield, MA, 1983
  Major: physical education; Emphases: teaching and administration, biomechanics
• B.A., Luther College, Decorah, IA, 1980
  Major: physical education; Emphasis: K-12 teaching physical education; Minors: health education, coaching

Selected publications

Wiese-Bjornstal, D.M., LaVoi, N.M., & Omli, J. (in press 2009). Child and adolescent development and sport participation. Chapter 10 to appear in B. Brewer (Ed.), International Olympic Committee (IOC) Medical Commission Handbook of Sports Medicine and Science: Sport Psychology Volume (pp. 97-112). Blackwell Publishing, Ltd.

Wiese-Bjornstal, D.M. (in press 2009). Psychological dimensions of girls’ physical activity participation. To be reprinted by permission from the 2007 Report of the Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport, Developing physically active girls: An evidence-based multidisciplinary approach, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN (pp. 7-27), to appear in Guthrie et al. (Eds.), Women, sport, & physical activity: Challenges and triumphs (2nd Ed.). Dubuque, IA: Kendall-Hunt.

Wiese-Bjornstal, D.M., & LaVoi, N.M. (2007, December). Girls’ physical activity participation: Recommendations for best practices, programs, policies and research. In the 2007 Report of the Tucker Center for Research on Girls and Women in Sport, Developing physically active girls: An evidence-based multidisciplinary approach. University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN (pp.63-90), print version, online version available at cehd.umn.edu/tuckercenter/.

Wiese-Bjornstal, D.M. (2004). Psychological responses to injury and illness. In G.S. Kolt & M.B. Andersen (Eds.), Psychology in the physical and manual therapies (pp. 21-38). Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone.

Wiese-Bjornstal, D.M. (2003). From skinned knees and Pee Wees to menisci and masters: Developmental sport injury psychology. In M.R. Weiss (Ed.), Developmental sport and exercise psychology: A lifespan perspective (pp. 525-568). Morgantown, WV: Fitness Information Technology.

Ray, R., & Wiese-Bjornstal, D.M. (Co-Editors). (1999). Counseling in sports medicine. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.

Morrey, M.A., Stuart, M.J., Smith, A.M., & Wiese-Bjornstal, D.M. (1999). A longitudinal examination of athletes’ emotional and cognitive response to anterior cruciate ligament injury. Clinical Journal of Sports Medicine, 9(2), 63-69.

Wiese-Bjornstal, D.M., Smith, A.M., Shaffer, S.M., & Morrey, M.A. (1998). An integrated model of response to sport injury: Psychological and sociological dynamics. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 10, 46-69.

Wang, J., & Wiese-Bjornstal, D.M. (1997). The relationship of school type and gender to motives for sport participation among youth in the People’s Republic of China. International Journal of Sport Psychology, 28(1), 13-24.

Wiese-Bjornstal, D.M., Smith, A.M., & LaMott, E.E. (1995). A model of psychologic response to athletic injury and rehabilitation. Athletic Training: Sports Health Care Perspectives, 1(1), 16-30.

Wiese-Bjornstal, D.M., & Weiss, M.R. (1992). Modeling effects on children’s form kinematics, performance outcome, and cognitive recognition of a sport skill: An integrated perspective. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 63(1), 67-75.
 

Full vitae

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updated February 2009