Psychological and Neuromechanical Recovery After Concussion: Dual-Task Stability and Kinesiophobia from Return to Play to Six Months.

Background: Sport-related concussion (SRC) increases the risk of subsequent musculoskeletal injury, yet the mechanisms underlying this vulnerability remain unclear. Fear of movement (kinesiophobia) may contribute to impaired motor control. Purpose: This study examined kinesiophobia and postural stab...

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Publicado en:International Journal of Sports Physical Therapy Vol. 21; no. 7; pp. 655 - 664
Autores principales: Anderson, Melissa, Le, Daniel, Faherty, Mallory, Killelea, Carolyn, Bytomski, Jeffrey, Martinez, Corina, Bergeron, Michael, Sell, Timothy
Formato: research tables/charts Journal Article
Publicado: North American Journal of Sports Physical Therapy 2026
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
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      dt: 2026
      vid: 21
      iid: 7
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      pub: North American Journal of Sports Physical Therapy
      place: Indianapolis, Indiana
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        10.26603/001c.163294
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        atl: Psychological and Neuromechanical Recovery After Concussion: Dual-Task Stability and Kinesiophobia from Return to Play to Six Months.
      aug:
        au:
          Anderson, Melissa
          Le, Daniel
          Faherty, Mallory
          Killelea, Carolyn
          Bytomski, Jeffrey
          Martinez, Corina
          Bergeron, Michael
          Sell, Timothy
        affil: Exercise Physiology Ohio University
      sug:
        subj:
          Recovery
          Brain Concussion Rehabilitation
          Kinesiophobia
          Sports Re-Entry Psychosocial Factors
          Time Factors
          Athletes, Male In Adolescence
          Athletes, Female In Adolescence
          Task Performance and Analysis
          Balance, Postural Physiology
          Human
          Nonexperimental Studies
          Analytic Research
          Cross Sectional Studies
          Case Control Studies
          Prospective Studies
          One Leg Stand
          Psychological Tests
          Scales
          Ground Reaction Force
          Funding Source
          Adolescence
          Descriptive Statistics
          Unpaired T-Tests
          Mann-Whitney U Test
          Paired T-Tests
          Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test
          Adolescent: 13-18 years
      ab: Background: Sport-related concussion (SRC) increases the risk of subsequent musculoskeletal injury, yet the mechanisms underlying this vulnerability remain unclear. Fear of movement (kinesiophobia) may contribute to impaired motor control. Purpose: This study examined kinesiophobia and postural stability in adolescent athletes at return-to-play (RTP) after SRC and evaluated changes six months later. Design: Observational analytical study with cross-sectional (case-control) and prospective cohort components. Methods: Thirty-seven concussed athletes (15.7 ± 1.3 years, 45.9% female) and 17 matched controls (16.4 ± 2.1 years, 52.9% female) completed static single-leg stance and dynamic single-leg landing tasks under single- and dual-task (Stroop) conditions. Fear of movement was measured with the Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia (TSK-11). A subset of 12 concussed athletes and eight controls repeated testing at six months. Postural stability was quantified using ground reaction forces; higher values indicated worse performance. Group differences at RTP were examined using independent-samples t-tests or Mann-Whitney U tests. Longitudinal changes from were examined using paired-samples t-tests or Wilcoxon signed-rank tests. Effect sizes and exact p-values were reported, with α set at.05. Results: At RTP, concussed athletes reported higher TSK-11 scores than controls (18.6 ± 4.2 vs. 15.6 ± 3.9, p = 0.013, d = 0.74). No significant group differences were observed for static or dynamic postural stability under single- or dual-task conditions (all p > 0.12). Within the concussion group, those with higher TSK-11 scores consistently showed poorer stability, although this difference was not statistically significant. At six months, concussed athletes demonstrated moderate improvements in TSK-11 (17.0 ± 3.9 to 13.4 ± 6.9) and dual-task dynamic stability, but changes did not reach statistical significance. Conclusions: Adolescents cleared for RTP after SRC exhibited elevated kinesiophobia, despite having balance performance comparable to controls. Screening for fear of movement may help identify athletes at risk for delayed recovery or reinjury, complementing standard postural stability assessments. Level of Evidence: 3
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype:
        research
        tables/charts
        Journal Article
      ougenre: Article
    language: English
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