title: The Prevalence of Depression and Concussions in a Sample of Active North American Semi-Professional and Professional Football Players.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Concussive events frequently occur in high impact sports such as North American football. The long term effects of concussive events on physical and psychological wellbeing are the focus of ongoing research. The purpose of this study was to determine if concussive events increase the incidence of depression in active semi-professional and professional North American football players.
  
  
  METHODS
  An anonymous online survey was sent to 200 players to collect the following self-reported data: position played, years played, number of concussions sustained and subsequent depressive symptoms using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CESD-R) scale. An independent T-test was used to determine differences in the number of concussive events in those with CESD-R scores <16 vs. ≥16, where scores ≥16 are indicative of a depressed state. Likewise, an independent T-test was used to compare CESD-R scores between players with ≥3 concussions vs. ≤2.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Individuals with a CESD-R score ≥16, sustained a significantly greater number of concussions (3.8 vs. 1.6) than those who scored <16 (p < 0.001). Further analysis also revealed significantly higher CESD-R scores in players who had sustained ≥3 concussions (24.0 vs. 15.6) than those with ≤2 (p < 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Within the parameters of this study, players that were classified as depressed had sustained significantly more concussions compared to those who were not classified as depressed. Further, multiple concussive events (≥3) appears to increase symptoms of depression.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Education and Human Performance, Southern Utah University, Cedar City, Utah, USA.
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pryor
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Education and Human Performance, Southern Utah University, Cedar City, Utah, USA.
authors.forename: Abigail
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Larson
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Education and Human Performance, Southern Utah University, Cedar City, Utah, USA.
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: DeBeliso
keywords: CESD-R; Concussion; Depression; Football