@article{ref1,
title="Diagnosis threat and injury beliefs after mild traumatic brain injury",
journal="Archives of clinical neuropsychology",
year="2016",
author="Carter-Allison, Samantha N. and Potter, Sebastian and Rimes, Katharine",
volume="ePub",
number="ePub",
pages="ePub-ePub",
abstract="BACKGROUND: Diagnosis threat is a psychosocial factor proposed to contribute to poor cognitive outcomes following mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). The current research explored diagnosis threat impact on objective and subjective cognitive performance in a &quot;high risk&quot; population of athletes. Two possible moderators of diagnosis threat - injury beliefs and suggestibility - were also investigated. <br><br>METHOD: Seventy-six participants with a history of mTBI were recruited through sports clubs and randomized to a months threat group (instructions drew attention to mTBI history) or a control group (no mention of mTBI). They completed a battery of neuropsychological tests and questionnaires regarding day-to-day cognitive abilities. Measures of depression, anxiety, illness beliefs and suggestibility were also collected. <br><br>RESULTS: No significant group differences were found on any neuropsychological tasks, nor on self-report of cognitive difficulties. Illness beliefs were not found to play a moderating role in general, although the majority of the study sample did not report negative mTBI beliefs and expectations: concern about the consequences of injury was associated with weaker performance on one test, WAIS-III Digit Span performance. Suggestibility was also found to have a significant affect on this test. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: Diagnosis threat did not appear to have a marked affect on objective or subjective cognitive performance after mTBI in athletes. Differing injury beliefs between the study's athlete population and the general population is a possible explanation for different findings in the area. This and other sources of potential variation in the affect of diagnosis threat are discussed.<br><br>© Crown copyright 2016.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0887-6177",
doi="10.1093/arclin/acw062",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/arclin/acw062"
}