Sport-Related Concussion Education and the Elaboration Likelihood Model: Need for Cognition as Mediator Between Health Literacy and Concussion Education Efficacy

Abstract

The current study examines the ways the elaboration likelihood model of persuasion can be applied to message design of concussion education programs. Results from a survey of collegiate athletes ( N = 353) illustrate that it is not only students’ generalized ability to understand health information (health literacy) that determines knowledge of concussion symptoms but also one’s motivation to think deeply about concussion protocols (need for cognition [NFC]). Current results show that NFC mediated the relationship between health literacy and the collegiate athletes’ knowledge of concussion symptoms. Collegiate athletes’ concussion protocols aimed at increasing concussion reportage rates should be multimodal (rather than standardized textual lecture-based approaches) to be better fitting individualized approaches to cognitive processing of complex health-related messages and to begin to address the sociocultural contexts and complexities associated with athletes’ stay-on-the-field bias, which makes the burden of behavioral change particularly difficult in concussion education efforts.