Unravelling the web: Experiences of adolescents returning to school following a concussion

ABSTRACT

One in five adolescents will sustain a concussion in their lifetime. A concussion may result in symptoms that affect an adolescent’s ability to attend school and engage in learning tasks. This study was guided by interpretivism. We conducted one-on-one semi-structured interviews to explore the perspectives of 20 adolescents (ages 14–18) returning to school after a concussion. Interviews were coded inductively and analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. Five interconnected themes emerged with returning to school and accessing school supports: (1) concussion symptoms affected adolescents’ schoolwork; (2) access to academic accommodations eased adolescents’ return to school; (3) having supportive and understanding friends, family, and teachers facilitated adolescents’ return to school; (4) communication amongst school stakeholders was desired, but often lacking; and (5) feeling anxious, frustrated, and sad with the return to school process. Adolescents' experiences were multifaceted and many factors contributed to their return to school experiences. Our findings can inform our understanding of the experiences of adolescents returning to school following concussion and can inform the development of concussion management supports at schools.

KEYWORDS:

• Adolescent
• Concussion
• Qualitative
• Reflexive thematic analysis
• Return to school return to learn

Acknowledgements

The Sport Injury Prevention Research Centre is one of the International Research Centres for Prevention of Injury and Protection of Athlete Health supported by the International Olympic Committee. We acknowledge the support of SHRed Concussions (National Football League Play Smart Play Safe Program) and Integrated Concussion Research Program (University of Calgary). We acknowledge the support of the SHRed research team and the SHRed participants for their engagement in this study. HA Shepherd was supported by The Jean Royce Fellowship, Queen’s University Alumni Association and Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute Graduate Studentship. KO Yeates holds the Ronald and Irene Ware Chair in Pediatric Brain Injury, funded by the Alberta Children’s Hospital Foundation. CA Emery holds a Canada Research Chair (Tier 1) in Concussion. N Reed holds a Canada Research Chair (Tier 2) in Pediatric Concussion.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data sharing

The participants of this study did not give written consent for their data to be shared publicly, so due to the sensitive nature of the research supporting data is not available.

Human subjects approval statement

The study was approved by the University of Calgary Conjoint Health Research Ethics Board (REB #18-2107).

Additional information

Funding

This work is aligned with the Surveillance in High School and Community Sports to Reduce Concussions and Their Consequences study, which is supported by the National Football League’s Scientific Advisory Board Play Smart Play Safe Program; Queen’s University Alumnae Association Jean Royce Fellowship; Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute.