Pilot study to explore girls’ lacrosse players’ attitudes toward headgear

ABSTRACT

Headgear adoption is a controversial issue in girls’ lacrosse due to concerns that headgear use will facilitate greater risk-taking by players and contribute to more aggressive game play behaviours. The purpose of this pilot study was to evaluate high school girls’ lacrosse players’ attitudes towards headgear before and after a season of use. Twenty-five high school girls’ lacrosse athletes wore headgear for one competitive season and completed a pre- and post-season survey. The survey evaluated players’ attitudes towards headgear use, with Aggressiveness, and Anger scales. Wilcoxon ranked tests were conducted to compare scores pre- and post-season. Players’ attitude towards headgear largely remained unchanged and “neutral” after a season of wearing headgear. Players endorsed slightly greater agreement for three Headgear survey items post-season compared to pre-season: “ … headgear allows me to be more aggressive … ” (p = .01), “ … players should wear more protective equipment ” (p = .04) and “ … wearing headgear increases how often I am hit in the head … ” (p = .04). However, Aggressiveness and Anger scale scores were not changed following headgear use. Our findings suggest the perception of headgear use in high school girls’ lacrosse is complex and could be associated with minor perceived changes in game play behaviours.

KEYWORDS:

• Helmets
• perception
• risk compensation
• adolescents

Acknowledgments

Dr. Patricia Kelshaw, Dr. Daniel Herman, Dr. Andrew Lincoln, Dr. Heather Vincent, and Dr. Shane Caswell, acknowledge unrestricted grant funding from the National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment and USA Lacrosse^TM. Dr. Shane Caswell acknowledges unrestricted grant funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Virginia Department of Health. Dr. Andrew Lincoln acknowledges unrestricted grant funding from the Horizon Foundation.

Disclosure statement

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

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.