Personality Predictors of Sports-Related Concussion Incidence: Analysis of Data From a Large, Heterogeneous Undergraduate Sample.
Megan G Weishaar, Jaclyn A Stephens, Bradley T Conner
PMID 34596098WHAT IT FOUND
Extraversion and experience seeking were linked to more self-reported diagnosed sports-related concussions, while better time estimation was linked to fewer.
Male sex and loss of consciousness also tracked with concussion reports. Some expected links were not found.
Key findings
01Experience seeking and extraversion were linked to more reported single and multiple diagnosed sports-related concussions.
02Higher mean time estimation scores, which indicated better behavioral motor inhibition, were linked to lower reported likelihood of single and multiple diagnosed sports-related concussions.
03Participants identifying as male and participants reporting loss of consciousness were more likely to have reported single and multiple diagnosed sports-related concussions.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they found
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What it does not show
The study is cross-sectional, so it cannot show that personality traits caused sports-related concussion. Concussion could also influence personality or reporting. Concussion history was self-reported by undergraduates, sometimes up to 10 years earlier, so recall and underreporting may be inaccurate. The sample was undergraduate students, not only athletes, and the findings are generalizable mainly to similar college populations. Suspected undiagnosed concussions and symptom data were not analysed, so results apply only to self-reported diagnosed concussion history. Self-reported impulsivity and behavioral impulsivity measures were minimally correlated, and the behavioral variables were skewed, so interpretation of motor inhibition is uncertain. The paper reports 1141 participants but does not clearly give the final analysed sample after exclusions. The models were better at identifying people without reported concussion than people with reported concussion, so they are not a practical screening tool.
Declared interests
No conflict-of-interest declaration is included in the supplied text. The publication types list NIH extramural research support.
The easy way to misread this
Do not use personality traits as a clinical screen for athletes likely to sustain a sports-related concussion. The study reports associations with self-reported diagnosed concussion history in undergraduates, not proven cause, and the models were better at identifying people without reported concussion than people with it.