There are many common beliefs within the general public about Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) that contradict research findings and scientific evidence. Therefore, the goal of this study was to examine the accuracy of CTE knowledge across three diverse samples.

The three groups included in the sample were 333 college students (54%), 196 individuals from the public (32%), and 90 psychology trainees/clinicians (54%) for a total of 619 participants. Online surveys were used to collect the CTE knowledge accuracy (i.e., the number correct divided by the total number of questions) of the sample. The questions about CTE were adapted from Merz et al. (2017) and from the Sports Neuropsychology Society’s “CTE: A Q and A Fact Sheet.”

Overall, CTE knowledge accuracy was 52% (M = 51%, SD = .24). Regarding inaccurate beliefs, two-thirds of the sample believed that CTE was related to sports participation alone even if a head injury did not occur, and most participants believed that CTE could be caused by a single injury. Additionally, confidence in CTE knowledge was positively correlated with willingness to allow their child to play a high contact sport despite overall low CTE knowledge accuracy. Last, many participants reported education (67%) and health care providers (61%) as their main sources of CTE information while only 18% of participants cited television/movies. However, when asked to provide additional details about their CTE information source, many participants cited ESPN specials and the movie “Concussion” as the main reason they learned of the condition and sought out additional information.

The results of this study are consistent with previous research on CTE knowledge accuracy. This further supports the need for clinicians and researchers to address misconceptions by providing information and scientific facts.