Department of Exercise and Sport Science

Researchers Receive NFL Charities Grant

Researchers from the SMRL (Kevin M. Guskiewicz; Johna Register-Mihalik; Stephen W. Marshall) recently received a research grant for the study entitled "An Assessment of High School Athletes' and Coaches' Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behaviors Concerning Concussion."  The study is funded by the National Football League Charities Medical Research Grant program. 

The overall goals of the study are to assess the knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors surrounding sports-related concussion among high school athletes and coaches. In order to achieve these goals, we will also assess the relationship between responses among coaches and their athletes to a piloted survey instrument. Finally, we aim to assess the factors most predictive of athletes not reporting a possible concussion to their coach or a medical professional. A secondary purpose is to examine the influence of a Certified Athletic Trainer on these characteristics. We suspect this study will lead to a better understanding of the influence of coaches on athletes knowledge, attitudes, and practices concerning sports related concussion and give insight into components to be included in prevention initiatives and interventions.