Concussion-Related Knowledge, Attitudes, Norms, and Expectations among Students at a Large Public University

Many factors influence student-athletes’ decision to disclose concussion symptoms. Understanding concussion-related culture that can affect disclosure behavior, specifically at the university level, is novel. This study investigated factors at a large, public university associated with concussion knowledge, attitudes, and norms among stakeholders and determined factors that influence these stakeholders’ expectations of student-athletes and fans regarding concussion.Faculty (n=22), staff (n=107), and students (n=130) completed an online questionnaire. We aimed to target all three groups. Due to low response across faculty and staff, we focused our primary results on students. There were significant associations between students’ concussion history, attitudes, and perceived norms and student-athlete expectations. These findings suggest general concussion notions were similar, but that some demographics affected expectations of student-athletes. These data may be used to inform concussion safety initiatives among students. Future studies should describe the factors which influence the university concussion culture, which could create safer environments for disclosure.Bachelor of Art