The burden of unsubstantiated messaging: collegiate athletes' chronic traumatic encephalopathy mechanism beliefs.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate factors associated with collegiate athletes' beliefs regarding chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) mechanism. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. METHODS: A total of 838 collegiate athletes (61.9% men) from seven institutions completed a 10-minute survey that captured information relative to demographics, diagnosed concussion history, formal sport-related concussion education, additional sources of concussion information, and beliefs about multiple concussions and premature return-to-play following a head impact as mechanisms for CTE. RESULTS: More than half of collegiate athletes believed that multiple concussions (58.2%) and premature return-to-play (59.1%) may cause CTE. Those who reported getting concussion information from sports news had higher odds of believing multiple concussions and premature return-to-play were CTE mechanisms compared to those who did not get information from sports news sources. Additionally, CTE mechanism beliefs were significantly greater in collegiate athletes who were male, had sustained a previous diagnosed concussion, or had acquired concussion information from the NCAA. CONCLUSIONS: Sports news' reporting of CTE storylines, which highlight former male athletes with complex brain injury histories, may influence collegiate athletes' beliefs about concussion. Therefore, it is recommended that concussion awareness initiatives incorporate information related specifically to CTE to empower collegiate athletes with evidence-based, patient-oriented information and knowledge regarding this condition.

Parent knowledge of and attitudes towards youth sport-related concussion and associations with child and parent factors.

Aim: This cross-sectional study aimed to better understand parental knowledge and attitudes regarding pediatric sport-related concussions, and association with parent/child biopsychosocial factors. Methods: A community sample of ninety families (n = 140 children) were included. Parental concussion knowledge and attitudes, concussion history, sport participation and social risk status score (SRS) were collected. Results: Parents scored an average of 76% accuracy on factual concussion knowledge, with 74% confidence in responses. Parents endorsed a favorable attitude toward concussion reporting and management. Low SRS had higher perceived accuracy of knowledge than medium or high SRS (p = 0.003). SRS influenced over-and-underestimations of factual knowledge (p = .04). Age at first sport and sport contact level influenced factual and perceived concussion knowledge. Conclusion: These findings identify common gaps in concussion knowledge in parents.

A revised factor structure for the post-concussion symptom scale: baseline and postconcussion factors.

BACKGROUND: Symptom reports play a critical role in the assessment and management of concussions. Symptoms are often conceptualized as factors comprising several related symptoms (eg, somatic factor = headache, nausea, vomiting). Previous research examining the factor structure of the 22-item Post-Concussion Symptom Scale (PCSS) has been limited to small samples and has not adequately evaluated factor loadings at both baseline and postconcussion for male and female athletes at the high school and collegiate levels. PURPOSE: To examine the factor structure of the 22-item PCSS in independent samples of high school and collegiate athletes reported at baseline and postconcussion, and to evaluate sex and age differences in the resulting baseline and postconcussion symptom factor scores. STUDY DESIGN: Case series; Level of evidence, 4. METHODS: Exploratory factor analytic (EFA) methods were applied to 2 separate samples of athletes who completed the PCSS at baseline (n = 30,455) and 1 to 7 days after a sport-related concussion (n = 1438). The baseline sample (mean ± standard deviation) was 15.74 ± 1.78 years, with a range of 13 to 22 years, and the postconcussion sample was 17.14 ± 2.25 years, with a range of 13 to 24 years. RESULTS: A 4-factor solution accounting for 49.1% of the variance at baseline included a cognitive-sensory, sleep-arousal, vestibular-somatic, and affective factor structure. A 4-factor solution that included cognitive-fatigue-migraine, affective, somatic, and sleep was revealed for the postconcussion EFA. High school athletes reported higher baseline levels of the cognitive-sensory and vestibular-somatic symptom factors and lower levels of the sleep-arousal factor than college athletes. Female participants reported higher symptoms on all postconcussion factors than male participants. CONCLUSION: The current findings reveal different symptom factors at baseline and postinjury and several age and sex differences on the symptom factors. At postconcussion, symptoms aggregated into a global concussion factor including cognitive, fatigue, and migraine symptoms. Symptoms reported at baseline are not the same as those reported after injury. The presence of a global postconcussion symptom comprising the fatigue factor highlights the importance of physical and cognitive rest during the first week after a concussion. Although headache was the most commonly reported symptom, it was not the greatest contributor to the global postconcussion symptom factor.

Computer-related anxiety: examining the impact of technology-specific affect on the performance of a computerized neuropsychological assessment measure.

This study was conducted to examine the effect of impairment status and computer-specific anxiety on the performance of a computerized neuropsychological assessment measure. Computer related anxiety was measured using a standardized self-report measure tapping anxiety specific to computers and technology. Outcome on this measure was compared with error scores and response timing variables on a computerized version of the Category Test (CT) in both normal individuals and individuals with neurological, psychiatric, or substance abuse histories. Multivariate analysis results, controlling for psychomotor performance, revealed significant main effects for group status and computer-related anxiety. CT performance was significantly related to the level of computer-related anxiety, in that high anxiety resulted in higher CT error scores and longer response times, and the negative impact of computer-related anxiety on computerized neuropsychological assessment performance was stronger in individuals with impairment histories. Our results suggest that as computer-related anxiety increases, performance on computer administered neuropsychological assessment measures tends to decrease. Key words: computers, anxiety, computer-based task performance, clinical neuropsychology, Category Test