Concussions are complex injuries with a variety of heterogeneous symptoms and neurocognitive effects spanning physical, cognitive, social, and emotional realms, with distinct differences person to person in symptom severity and presentation. Current literature suggests a disparity between male and female athletes in their concussion recovery…

Recent research has found substantial gaps in knowledge surrounding concussion assessment and management in various groups of Canadian healthcare professionals, including medical students, physiotherapists, chiropractic students, and family medicine physicians. The purpose of this project was to explore concussion knowledge in a sample of athletic…

Context: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has declared concussions as an epidemic in sport participation. To provide a safer environment, state legislation and athletic governing bodies have mandated concussion education as a part of concussion management strategies throughout secondary and postsecondary levels. However, governing…

Background: Concussion underreporting is endemic, and social norms are an established predictor of concussion reporting behavior. However, pluralistic ignorance--a situation in which most individuals in a group hold the belief that their peers' views differ from their own, despite views actually being similar--has not been studied in this context.…

Background: Sports related concussions continue to be a public health concern and improving reporting behavior a focus of educational programs. While educational programs have addressed changes in knowledge of concussion symptoms, it has been challenging to design educational programs which have lasting effects on reporting behavior. Aims: The…

Purpose: The public has long had misconceptions about traumatic brain injury (TBI) and its effects. Concussion education targeted toward athletes has been increasing with passage of return-to-play laws in all 50 states. The current study examined differences in public knowledge about TBI and concussion, and the extent to which students and parents…

One factor in reducing the likelihood of sports-related brain injuries is the recognition of risks. However, using colloquial terms may deemphasize the severity of these risks. We hypothesized that using colloquial language to describe sports-related brain injuries will lead to greater willingness to take on the risk. We conducted two experiments,…

All states have youth sports concussion laws that have helped shape school concussion policy. However, state laws do not specify how schools distribute policy. The present study examined parent, youth, and school personnel's knowledge of school concussion policy in Colorado and ease of access to policy via school website. Youth (n = 1,987),…

Concussion education is an important aspect of concussion prevention. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of a novel, theory of planned behavior (TPB)-driven concussion education program on secondary school athletes' concussion-reporting relevant cognitions immediately post-intervention and at 3 months follow-up. Data were…

This survey study compared high school football players' knowledge and attitudes about concussion before and after receiving concussion education. There were no significant changes in the Concussion Attitude Index. Results revealed a statistically significant difference in the athletes' scores for the Concussion Knowledge Index, "t"(244)…