Perceived organizational influences on Western U.S. collegiate athletes’ attitudes toward concussion risks and concussion reporting

This paper investigates how cultural narratives from people at varying positions in a team culture affect athletes’ attitudes toward concussion injures and concussion reporting. Power Five National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) athletes (N = 226) competing in high-concussion risk sports completed a survey exploring the frequency with which they heard performance or safety narratives from three distinct organizational sources: coaches, Athletic Trainers (ATs), and teammates. Athletes then completed scales measuring perceived immediacy of concussion consequences, perceived probability of suffering short- and long-term consequences of concussions, and three distinct dimensions of attitudes toward concussion-reporting behavior. Regression analyses revealed that both message frequency and source matter to athletes when forming attitudes and perceptions about the concussion-reporting behaviors that universities are advocating. Implications and recommendations for organizations designed to motivate athletes to report concussions to conclude the paper.