Return to search

Constraints and Facilitators in Academic and Athletic Settings for Varsity Football Student-Athletes with a Sport-Related Concussion

Sports-related concussions are a growing public health concern affecting numerous varsity football student-athletes. This study used the social ecological model to identify intrapersonal, interpersonal, and environmental factors. The purpose of this study is to identify constraints and facilitators in academic and athletic settings for varsity football student-athletes with a sport-related concussion. Twelve current varsity football student-athletes from one institution who suffered a sport-related concussion took part in semi-structured interviews. Data were thematically analyzed. Results indicate that varsity football student-athletes with a sport-related concussion perceived numerous constraining and facilitating social ecological factors in the academic and athletic settings. Intrapersonal constraints revolved around loss of motivation, loss of social identification, stress, anxiety and depression, injury-specific issues (i.e. difficulty thinking clearly, remembering, drowsiness), internal pressure to return, while intrapersonal facilitators included prior experiences of enjoyment in academic and athletic activities, seeing improvements in the recovery process, and not giving up. Interpersonal constraints related to insufficient social support, lack of awareness and guidance on concussion knowledge, external pressure to return, and lack of academic support post-concussion, while interpersonal facilitators included passionate therapy staff, and sport psychologist. Environmental constraints pertained to return-to-play and return-to-learn protocols, while environmental facilitators included having access to concussion-based resources. Findings suggest that there remains a need to address constraining and facilitating factors in the academic and athletic settings for varsity football student-athletes with a sport-related concussion

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:uottawa.ca/oai:ruor.uottawa.ca:10393/39751
Date21 October 2019
CreatorsHamidi, Wahid
ContributorsKarlis, George
PublisherUniversité d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Source SetsUniversité d’Ottawa
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis
Formatapplication/pdf

Page generated in 0.0022 seconds