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Norms, Athletic Identity, and Concussion Symptom Under-Reporting Among Male Collegiate Ice Hockey Players: A Prospective Cohort Study

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Annals of Behavioral Medicine

Abstract

Background

Many athletes fail to report concussion symptoms to coaches or medical personnel, putting them at risk for potentially catastrophic neurologic consequences if additional brain trauma is sustained prior to full recovery.

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to determine whether concussion reporting norms prior to the start of the athletic season predicted reporting symptoms of a possible concussion during the season, and whether this association was moderated by athletic identity.

Methods

Members of six National Collegiate Athletic Association Division 1 men’s ice hockey teams (n = 116) completed written surveys before and after the 2012–2013 collegiate ice hockey season.

Results

Participants who at pre-season perceived that “most athletes” were likely to report symptoms of a concussion were themselves more likely to report symptoms during the season. Athletic identity weakly moderated this association.

Conclusions

Perceived reporting norms may be an important target of interventions aimed at reducing symptom under-reporting among athletes.

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Acknowledgments

This research was partially supported by the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s 2012–2013 Graduate Student Research Grant.

Authors Statement of Conflict of Interest and Adherence to Ethical Standards

Emily Kroshus, Laura D. Kubzansky, Roberta E. Goldman and S. Bryn Austin declare that they have no conflict of interest. All procedures, including the informed consent process, were conducted in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2000.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard School of Public Health, 677 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA, 02115, USA

    Emily Kroshus Sc.D., M.P.H., Laura D. Kubzansky Ph.D., M.P.H., Roberta E. Goldman Ph.D. & S. Bryn Austin Sc.D.

  2. Alpert School of Medicine, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA

    Roberta E. Goldman Ph.D.

  3. Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    S. Bryn Austin Sc.D.

  4. Division of Adolescent/Young Adult Medicine, Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA, USA

    S. Bryn Austin Sc.D.

Authors
  1. Emily Kroshus Sc.D., M.P.H.
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  2. Laura D. Kubzansky Ph.D., M.P.H.
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  3. Roberta E. Goldman Ph.D.
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  4. S. Bryn Austin Sc.D.
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Correspondence to Emily Kroshus Sc.D., M.P.H..

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Kroshus, E., Kubzansky, L.D., Goldman, R.E. et al. Norms, Athletic Identity, and Concussion Symptom Under-Reporting Among Male Collegiate Ice Hockey Players: A Prospective Cohort Study. ann. behav. med. 49, 95–103 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12160-014-9636-5

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