Parent Perceptions of Their Adolescent Athlete's Concussion: A Preliminary Retrospective Study

Parent reports of their adolescent athletes' recovery from concussion are often considered by clinicians, but limited research has explored the factors (i.e., athletes' symptoms and neurocognitive performance) predicting parents' perceptions of athletes' recovery and how these factors relate to previous research on athletes' self-perceptions of recovery. The current study included 67 athletes aged 12 to 18 years old (M = 14.69 years, SD = 1.67) who were evaluated for a sports-related concussion within 6 months postinjury and were accompanied by a parent to their evaluation. Athletes and parents were asked to rate athletes' percent "back to normal" (i.e., perception of recovery), and athletes completed Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing and symptom reports on the Post-Concussion Symptom Scale. Results of a multiple regression for athletes' total symptom score and neurocognitive performance (Verbal Memory, Visual Memory, Visuomotor Speed, and Reaction Time) was significant and accounted for 47.9% of the variance in parents' perceptions of recovery with total symptoms as the only significant predictor. A stepwise regression for symptom clusters (somatic, cognitive, sleep, and neuropsychiatric) demonstrated that somatic complaints were the most predictive of parents' perceptions. Parents' and athletes' perceptions are predicted by athletes' somatic symptoms, rather than athletes' performance on objective assessments.