Social norms theory and concussion education

Abstract

Secondary prevention of harm from sportrelated concussion is contingent on immediate removal from play post-injury. To-date, educational efforts to reduce the prevalent risk behavior of continued play while symptomatic have been largely ineffective. Social norms theory may hold promise as a foundation for more effective concussion education aimed at increasing concussion reporting. The primary objective of this study was to assess whether perceived team concussion reporting norms would be less supportive of an individual's safe concussion symptom reporting behavior than objective team norms. Participants were 328 male and female US collegiate athletes. Written surveys were completed in person during the spring of 2014. Among both male and female athletes, team concussion reporting norms were significantly misperceived, with athletes tending to think that they themselves have safer attitudes about concussion reporting than their teammates. Perceived norms were associated with symptom reporting intention, independent of the team's objective reporting norm. A social norms approach to concussion education, in which misperceived group norms are corrected and shifted in the direction of safety, is an important avenue for program development and evaluation research aimed at the secondary prevention of harm from concussion. Implications for the design of this type of educational programming are discussed.

‘A Girl Who Gets Pregnant or Spends the Night with a Man is No Longer a Girl’: Forced Marriage in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo

“…Consistent with the findings of the current study, social norms theory hold promise as a prevention strategies for reducing violence. Social norms theory decreases problem behevior, and increases prevalence of healthy behavior (Hahn-Smith and Springer 2005; Kroshus et al 2015).…”

A Multifactorial Approach to Sport-Related Concussion Prevention and Education: Application of the Socioecological Framework

“…Perceived team norms are an important determinant of whether an athlete reports a suspected concussion. 80,81 Norms are shaped by observations of and interactions with members of the referent population. 82 Within large teams may be smaller subgroups with their own norms regarding concussion; for example, differences were noted among collegiate football players across positions.…”

“…Athletes who more strongly believe that their teammates or most athletes would report the symptoms of a suspected concussion are more likely to engage in this behavior themselves. 81 Athletic identity interacts with perceived norms to influence SRC-disclosure behavior; athletes who more strongly identify with the athlete role are more likely to behave in the way that they think most athletes would regarding SRC disclosure. 80 However, critically, norms may be misperceived.…”

“…80 However, critically, norms may be misperceived. The results of a recent investigation 81 suggest that both male and female collegiate athletes tend to think their teammates have less safe attitudes about concussion safety than they themselves do. Correcting these misperceptions may be a central strategy for increasing the effectiveness of concussion education; potential approaches to normcorrecting concussion education have been described elsewhere.…”

“…Correcting these misperceptions may be a central strategy for increasing the effectiveness of concussion education; potential approaches to normcorrecting concussion education have been described elsewhere. 81 Another component of effective educational interventions is athletes' perceived control of concussion-related behaviors, such as disclosure and playing technique, as well as their self-efficacy regarding these behaviors. Perceived control of concussion behaviors may include an athlete feeling that he or she can control playing behavior; the related term self-efficacy refers to an individual's belief that he or she possesses the skills or means necessary to control those behaviors or actions.…”