Make Play Safe: Intervention to Increase Concussion Recognition and Reporting in Youth Soccer

Sports-related concussions (SRCs) affect nearly two million US children annually, posing significant acute and long-term risk to the developing brain. The actual number of SRC incidents is likely higher, as up to one-third go unreported. Most existing SRC education and prevention programs transmit knowledge effectively but fail to change reporting behaviors, leaving youth athletes failing to recognize or report sports-related concussions (SRC). Innovative approaches to improve SRC reporting behaviors among youth athletes are urgently needed. The proposed intervention, Make Play Safe (MPS), is a two-component program grounded in behavioral theory aimed at enhancing SRC recognition and reporting among youth soccer athletes. MPS leverages virtual reality (VR) technology to allow youth athletes to virtually “experience” SRC events and symptoms. It also provides effective communication strategies for parents and coaches to facilitate and enhance discussions about SRC reporting and safety. The long-term goal of this project is to reduce negative and potentially long-lasting SRC- related health consequences by increasing SRC reporting among youth athletes. Specifically, this study will determine if the MPS intervention increases soccer athletes’ SRC recognition and reporting intentions (Aim 1) and SRC reporting behaviors (Aim 2). Additionally, it will evaluate whether the efficacy of the MPS intervention is mediated by the frequency of parent-child or coach-team communication about SRC (Aim 3). Boys’ and girls’ soccer athletes aged 9-12, along with their parents and coaches, will be recruited from eight youth recreational soccer leagues in central Ohio (n = 960 athletes, 960 parents, and 64 coaches) and enrolled in four waves. In each wave, two of the eight leagues will be randomly selected and assigned to either the Intervention or Control group. The intervention includes a VR-based SRC education session for youth soccer athletes at the beginning of the season and a weekly message notification program for parents and coaches throughout the season. Both groups will also receive the standard SRC education currently provided by their soccer league. Study out- come assessments will be conducted with athletes, parents, and coaches pre-season, during the season, post- season, and six months after the season ends. This project is significant because it addresses the underreporting of SRC in youth soccer, a popular sport for both boys and girls with a high rate of SRCs. The project is innovative in its use of VR technology to interactively teach youth athletes about SRCs in a safe and distraction-free, yet realistic environment. The findings of this study will have a significant impact, as the intervention is theory-driven, developmentally appropriate, and readily scalable for wide dissemination and immediate use at minimal cost by youth sports organizations, schools, and community groups. When adopted, this intervention has the poten- tial to vastly improve youth athletes’ SRC recognition and reporting behaviors, thereby reducing the negative and long-lasting health consequences. Project Number: 1R01HD116730-01A1 | Fiscal Year: 2025 | NIH Institute/Center: Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) | Principal Investigator: Jingzhen Yang (+1 co-PI) | Institution: RESEARCH INST NATIONWIDE CHILDREN'S HOSP, COLUMBUS, OH | Award Amount: $715,357 | Activity Code: R01 | Study Section: Lifestyle Change and Behavioral Health Study Section[LCBH] View on NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/1R01HD11673001A1