A-09 Youth Athlete Concussion-Related Anxiety Perceptions

Abstract Purpose To describe the prevalence of concussion-related anxiety in youth athletes, and determine what factors (e.g., sex, sport, concussion history, concussion education, parental concussion anxiety) were associated with greater anxiety. Methods Youth athletes participating in football, soccer, ice hockey, lacrosse (n=411; males=185, females=282; age=11.04±1.8 years) completed a cross-sectional survey. Participants completed demographic items and the Illness Perception Questionnaire, altered to be concussion-specific. We focused on the following four anxiety perception items scored on a Likert scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree): “The thought of getting a concussion is upsetting to me.”, “I am afraid of getting a concussion.”, “The thought of me having a concussion makes me feel anxious.”, and “Concussions do not worry me [reverse].” The sum of items produced an overall anxiety composite score (20 possible points) with higher values indicating greater anxiety. Results Overall, 46.72% (n=192/411) of youth athletes were upset, 46.72% (n=196/411) afraid, or 29.0% (n=119/453) anxious at the thought of sustaining a concussion. Additionally, 49.9% (n=205/411) indicated concussions worry them. The sample mean anxiety perception composite score was 12.48±3.84. Participating in soccer (β: 1.49, 95% CI: 0.35, 2.62), being a girl (β: 1.40, 95% CI: 0.55, 2.26), and having a parent with higher concussion anxiety (β: 0.2, 95% CI: 0.82, 0.32) were associated with greater youth athlete concussion-related anxiety perceptions. Conclusions Concussion-related anxiety perceptions are fairly prevalent in youth athletes. More research is needed to determine how these beliefs may influence avoidance of risky sport behavior, intention to report a suspected concussion, and post-injury recovery outcomes.