Anxiety-Related Concussion Perceptions of Parents of Youth Athletes

Parents are key decisionmakers for 1 the health and wellness of their children. Despite the benefits of engaging in physical activity, parental concerns about concussion may create hesitancy towards sport participation. The magnitude of concussion-related anxiety perceptions and factors that influence these beliefs in parents of youth athletes are largely unknown.

To determine the prevalence of concussion-related anxiety perceptions in parents of youth athletes and establish the associations among concussion-related anxiety and demographic variables (i.e., parent sex, parent concussion history, child concussion history, parent concussion education).

Cross-sectional paper survey.

Youth sports.

452 parents (60% female; mean age = 40.4±13.0 years) of youth athletes (8-14 years old) who participated in soccer, ice hockey, lacrosse, and football (i.e., higher concussion risk sports) in Pennsylvania and Michigan.

Survey items were adapted from the Perceptions of Concussion Inventory for Athletes (PCI-A) to pertain to perceptions about their child. Parents also completed a demographic survey regarding concussion-related topics.

Overall, 73.2% of parents found the possibility of their child sustaining a concussion to be upsetting, 61.5% were fearful of their child sustaining a concussion, and 45.1% reported that the thought of their child having a concussion makes them feel anxious. Only 4.6% of parents suggested that concussions do not worry them. The lack of a personal concussion history and being female were associated with greater concussion-related anxiety in parents.

This study provides evidence that parents of youth athletes have anxiety about their child sustaining a concussion, while also contributing to the understanding of what factors are related to such anxiety (i.e., female parent; no parent history of concussion). Negative parental concussion beliefs may contribute to the reduction in contact sport participation and should be directly addressed in concussion education specific to youth sport participation.