Sport-related concussion (SRC) has recently become a public health concern that has garnered much national attention. One strategy to protect against negative consequences is to prevent SRC from occurring by investigating injury risk factors. Although many potential risk factors have been studied, there is minimal evidence on how SRC occurrence relates to intrinsic psychological variables. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the differences in risk-taking behaviors, sensation seeking needs, mood states, and personality traits between collegiate student-athletes with and without a history of SRC (i.e. 0, 1, 2+). A secondary aim of this study was determine if any of the psychological variables predicted a history of SRC in collegiate student-athletes. DESIGN: cross-sectional quantitative study. SUBJECTS: 1,252 male (n=706) and female (n=546) collegiate student-athletes from 4 different institutions, 3 different NCAA divisions, and 18 different sports. The SRC independent variable groups were as followed: 938 (74.9%) participants with no previous history of SRC, 205 (16.4%) participants who had sustained one previous SRC, and 109 (8.7%) participants who had sustained two or more previous SRCs. MEASUREMENTS: A one-time survey acquired data on demographic information, previous SRC history, and psychological variables (i.e. Barratt Impulsiveness Scale, Brief Sensation Seeking Scale, Brunel Mood Scale, Big Five Personality Inventory). RESULTS: Significant differences were found between previous SRC groups for attention impulsivity [F(1,226)=7.35,p=0.00], motor impulsivity [F(1,226)=6.97,p=0.00], and total risk-taking impulsivity [F(1,227)=7.15,p=0.00] variables. Attention, motor, and total risk-taking impulsivity were significantly higher for the 2+ SRC compared to the 0 SRC group [Attention: Mean Difference (MD)=0.24,p=0.00,d=0.42; Motor: MD=0.23,p=0.00,d=0.41; Total: MD=0.18,p=0.00,d=0.41] and the 1 SRC group [Attention: MD=0.18,p=0.02,d=0.31; Motor: MD=0.20,p=0.01,d=0.35; Total: MD=0.15,p=0.02,d=0.33]. Significant differences between previous SRC groups for the boredom susceptibility [F(1,207)=3.15,p=0.04], adventure seeking [F(1,208)=5.18,p=0.01], and total sensation seeking [F(1,214)=4.53,p=0.01] variables were also identified. Adventure seeking scores were significantly higher for the 1 SRC group compared to the 0 SRC group (MD=0.22,p=0.02, d=0.20), while the total sensation seeking score was significantly higher for the 2+ SRC group compared to the 0 SRC group (MD=0.19,p=0.03,d=0.25). Attention risk-taking impulsivity was identified as a significant predictor of 2+ previous SRCs and adventure seeking as a significant predictor of 1 previous SRCs. No significant mood state or personality trait differences between SRC groups were found. CONCLUSION: While mood and personality do not appear to differ based upon SRC history for this study, total risk-taking and sensation seeking scores were higher in collegiate student-athletes with a history of multiple SRC. As these variables did not differ between the 0 and 1 SRC groups, risk-taking and sensation seeking may not be important psychological variables for those sustaining a single SRC, but may be more important when dealing with a history of multiple SRCs. More research is needed to clarify these findings and investigate if a causal relationship exists.
Read
