The Impact of Repetitive Concussions In High School Athletes

Date of Award

Fall 11-21-2012

Document Type

Doctoral Research Paper

Degree Name

Psy.D. in Clinical Psychology

Organizational Unit

Graduate School of Professional Psychology

First Advisor

Artur Poczwardowski

Second Advisor

Ragnar Storaasli

Third Advisor

Hal Lewis

Copyright Statement / License for Reuse

All Rights Reserved
All Rights Reserved.

Keywords

Concussion, Quantitative research, Adolescents, Assessment, Repetitive concussions, Computerized concussion assessment, Mild traumatic brain injury, High school athletes, Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing measure (ImPACT), Multiple concussions

Abstract

Concussive injuries appear to be becoming a more common occurrence among athletes. While many studies have assessed the short-term and long-term effects of concussive injuries, fewer studies have specifically addressed the impact of multiple concussive injuries within a high school population. Through the use of the Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing measure (ImPACT), this study investigated differences in a sample of 946 high school athletes with varying concussive histories (multiple concussions vs. single concussion vs. no concussion) at baseline and following sustaining a concussive injury. An additional analysis was conducted with athletes who obtained two concussions within the study to assess for trends in symptomology between their first and second injuries. For both baseline and study concussed athletes, athletes with multiple concussive injuries did not exhibit significantly elevated self-report symptoms nor decreased ImPACT composite scores compared to the other groups. Analysis of data from athletes who sustained more than one concussion within the study, revealed an increase in self-report symptoms and a decrease in ImPACT performance from time 1 to time 2. However, these changes were small in magnitude and were not consistently exhibited across the variables under investigation. Overall, this study did not find compelling evidence of increased symptomological patterns or decreased functioning for multiple concussed athletes as compared to peers.

Copyright Date

9-26-2012

Publication Statement

Copyright is held by the author. Permanently suppressed.

Rights Holder

Michael Brinker

Provenance

Received from Author

File Format

application/pdf

Language

English (eng)

Extent

36 pgs

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