IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v20y2023i3p1988-d1043391.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Impact of a Recent Concussion on College-Aged Individuals with Co-Occurring Anxiety: A Qualitative Investigation

Author

Listed:
  • Jonathan Greenberg

    (Center for Health Outcomes and Interdisciplinary Research (CHOIR), Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA
    Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA)

  • Millan R. Kanaya

    (Center for Health Outcomes and Interdisciplinary Research (CHOIR), Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA)

  • Sarah M. Bannon

    (Center for Health Outcomes and Interdisciplinary Research (CHOIR), Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA
    Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA)

  • Ellen McKinnon

    (Dr. Robert Cantu Concussion Center, Emerson Hospital, Concord, MA 01742, USA)

  • Grant L. Iverson

    (Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital and The Schoen Adams Research Institute at Spaulding Rehabilitation, Charlestown, MA 02129, USA
    MassGeneral Hospital for Children Sports Concussion Program, Boston, MA 02114, USA
    Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA)

  • Noah D. Silverberg

    (Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada
    Rehabilitation Research Program, Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute, Vancouver, BC V5Z 1M9, Canada)

  • Robert A. Parker

    (Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
    Biostatistics Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA)

  • Joseph T. Giacino

    (Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
    Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Charlestown, MA 02129, USA
    Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA)

  • Gloria Y. Yeh

    (Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
    Department of Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA 02215, USA)

  • Ana-Maria Vranceanu

    (Center for Health Outcomes and Interdisciplinary Research (CHOIR), Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA
    Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA)

Abstract

College-aged individuals with anxiety are vulnerable to developing persistent concussion symptoms, yet evidence-based treatments for this population are limited. Understanding these individuals’ perspectives is critical for developing effective interventions. We conducted qualitative interviews with 17 college-aged individuals (18–24 years old) with a recent (≤10 weeks) concussion and at least mild anxiety (≥5 on the GAD-7 questionnaire) to understand the life impact of their concussion. We identified 5 themes: (1) disruption to daily activities (e.g., reduced participation in hobbies and physical activity); (2) disruption to relationships (e.g., reduced social engagement, feeling dismissed by others, stigma, and interpersonal friction); (3) disruptions in school/work (e.g., challenges participating due to light sensitivity, cognitive or sleep disturbance, and related emotional distress); (4) changes in view of the self (e.g., feeling “unlike oneself”, duller, or more irritable), and (5) finding “silver linings” after the injury (e.g., increased motivation). Concussions impact the lives of college-aged individuals with co-occurring anxiety in a broad range of domains, many of which remain largely neglected in standard concussion clinical assessment and treatment. Assessing and addressing these issues has the potential to limit the negative impact of concussion, promote recovery, and potentially help prevent persistent concussion symptoms in this at-risk population.

Suggested Citation

  • Jonathan Greenberg & Millan R. Kanaya & Sarah M. Bannon & Ellen McKinnon & Grant L. Iverson & Noah D. Silverberg & Robert A. Parker & Joseph T. Giacino & Gloria Y. Yeh & Ana-Maria Vranceanu, 2023. "The Impact of a Recent Concussion on College-Aged Individuals with Co-Occurring Anxiety: A Qualitative Investigation," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(3), pages 1-12, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:3:p:1988-:d:1043391
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/3/1988/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/3/1988/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Wasserman, E.B. & Bazarian, J.J. & Mapstone, M. & Block, R. & Van Wijngaarden, E., 2016. "Academic dysfunction after a concussion among US high school and college students," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 106(7), pages 1247-1253.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Katy H. O’Brien & Yalian Pei & Amy M. Kemp & Rebecca Gartell & Russell K. Gore & Tracey Wallace, 2023. "The SUCCESS Peer Mentoring Program for College Students with Concussion: Preliminary Results of a Mobile Technology Delivered Intervention," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(8), pages 1-20, April.
    2. Mekala Neelakantan & Brinda Ryali & Maria Demma Cabral & Ann Harris & Juli McCarroll & Dilip R. Patel, 2020. "Academic Performance Following Sport-Related Concussions in Children and Adolescents: A Scoping Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(20), pages 1-12, October.
    3. Kroshus, Emily & Baugh, Christine M. & Meehan, William P. & Viswanath, Kasisomayajula, 2018. "Personal subjectivity in clinician discussion about retirement from sport post-concussion," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 218(C), pages 37-44.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:3:p:1988-:d:1043391. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.