The purpose of this retrospective, survey-based study was to explore the psychological response when returning to play in collegiate student-athletes who had sustained a sport-related concussion. The survey was the Anterior Cruciate Ligament-Return to Sport Inventory adapted for use in a sports-related concussion (SRC) demographic. Thirty-three participants completed the survey and demographic and concussion history questionnaires via an online link upon return to full participation after sustaining a SRC. Qualtrics® was used to distribute the survey and SPSS software (22.0) was used for statistical analyses. The average scores for the confidence, emotional, and risk components were 7.19 + 2.29, 5.78 + 1.49, and 3.38 + 2.44 respectively. Scores over 5.00 were considered to demonstrate a psychological response to that component. The 33 participants demonstrated a psychological response in both level of confidence and emotional reaction. They failed to show a psychological reaction to risk. These athletes showed an emotional response upon returning to play, but also felt confident in their abilities and lacked any concern for risk of reinjury. This preliminary data suggests that a psychological response exists in the emotional and confidence aspects of returning to play, but not in the risk aspect. If further research continues to show a similar phenomenon, the information could be used to help athletes through the emotional stress of recovery while building their confidence to return to play.
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