Personality traits may influence return to play timing after sports-related concussion
According to published results, undergraduate students who display experience-seeking, risk-seeking and impulsive personality traits are more likely have an early return to play after sports-related concussion.
Megan G. Weishaar, MS, and investigators at Colorado State University analyzed 202 undergraduate students who were recruited from the university’s psychology courses in 2019 with medically confirmed sports-related concussion (SRC) and medically advised return to play.
According to the study, all students completed an online survey in a supervised laboratory setting, which included self-report survey measures, concussion history items and behavioral impulsivity tasks. Weishaar and colleagues analyzed Kaplan-Meier curves and Cox proportional hazards models to compare the relationship between personality traits and time to return to play after SRC.
Overall, mean return to play was 21.3 weeks, with a median return to play of 3 weeks. Researchers found students who were sensation-seeking and experience-seeking, as well as students who self-reported attentional- and motor-impulsive behavior were positively associated with an earlier return to play after SRC. In contrast, students who reported high levels of conscientiousness were associated with a later return to play after SRC.
Hazard of earlier return to play was 8.1% higher for every one-unit increase in experience seeking; 4.1% higher for every one-unit increase in attentional impulsivity; 4% higher for every one-unit increase in motor impulsivity; and 6.8% lower for every one-unit increase in conscientiousness, according to the study.
“Because earlier return to play can heighten the risk of sustaining a new concussion after an initial concussion, it is important to identify characteristics — such as personality traits — that influence individuals’ return-to-play behaviors,” the researchers wrote in the study. “As more research elucidates the relationship between personality and specific SRC outcomes, medical professionals and athletic trainers may be better equipped to tailor educational, prevention, and interventions efforts based on individualized athlete personality profiles,” they concluded.
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