Parent influence on concussion reporting in first-year collegiate athletes

Objective To assess the relationship between sport-parenting practices and concussion reporting intentions of collegiate athletes across two levels of competition. Participants Entering first-year student-athletes (varsity and club) at a mid-sized university in the Southeast region of the United States (n = 327). Methods Written surveys were completed prior to the start of the 2015 academic year. Structural equation modeling was used to test a model predicting concussion-reporting intentions. Results College athletes were more likely to intend to report a suspected concussion when they believed their parents wanted them to report (B=-0.88, SD = 0.94), and when they experienced less sport achievement pressure from their parents (B=-0.12, SD = 8.07). Conclusions Parents influence the concussion safety of entering collegiate athletes at both the varsity and club level. Lower pressure sport parenting prior to college entry may help foster safer concussion reporting behaviors and may be an appropriate target for future intervention development work.