Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jkksz Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T04:56:10.588Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Validity of Affect Measurements in Evaluating Symptom Reporting in Athletes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 November 2011

Deepa M. Ramanathan*
Affiliation:
Psychology Department, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania
Amanda R. Rabinowitz
Affiliation:
Psychology Department, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania
Fiona H. Barwick
Affiliation:
Psychology Department, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania
Peter A. Arnett
Affiliation:
Psychology Department, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania
*
Correspondence and reprint requests to: Deepa M. Ramanathan, Department of Psychology, The Pennsylvania State University, 610 Moore Building, University Park, PA 16802-3106. E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract

Identifying factors that improve the assessment of athletes’ psychological functioning is imperative to make proper return-to-play decisions following concussion. Prior research indicates that an individual's affect is related to symptom reporting. The present study examines two novel methods of affect assessment in college athletes at baseline participating in a sports-concussion management program. A total of 256 athletes completed a neuropsychological baseline battery with measurements of psychological symptoms (BDI-Fast Screen, Post-Concussion Symptom Scale, and ImPact Total Symptom Score) and a measure of affective memory bias (the Affective Verbal Learning Test; AVLT). Examiners completed an observation-based rating of affect. Multivariate analysis of variance and χ2 analyses were conducted to examine the effect of affect on symptom reports. Examiners’ Affect Ratings were predictive of broad symptom reporting, while the performance based index of affect (Affective Verbal Learning Test, AVLT) was more predictive of depressive symptoms. These findings suggest that performance on the AVLT may be a useful indicator of self-reported depression in a collegiate athlete sample. Additionally, these results demonstrate that examiners’ behavioral assessments of affect are important in the assessment of psychological functioning in athletes. Continued work should focus on developing objective measures that are sensitive and valid for the evaluation of outcomes from concussion. (JINS, 2012, 18, 101–107)

Type
Research Articles
Copyright
Copyright © The International Neuropsychological Society 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Affleck, G., Tennen, H., Urrows, S., Higgins, P. (1992). Neuroticism and the pain- mood relation in rheumatoid arthritis: Insights from a prospective daily study. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 60, 119126.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bailey, C.M., Echemendia, R.J., Arnett, P.A. (2006). The impact of motivation on neuropsychological performance in sports-related mild traumatic brain injury. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 12, 475484.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Barth, J.T., Alves, W.M., Ryan, T.V., Macciocchi, S.N., Rimel, R.W., Jane, J.A., Nelson, W.E. (1989). Mild head injury in sports: Neuropsychological sequelae and recovery of function. In H.S. Levin, H.M. Eisenberg, & A.L. Benton (Eds.), Mild head injury in sports (pp. 257275). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Barwick, F.H., Arnett, P.A. (2007). The affective verbal learning test. Unpublished manuscript.Google Scholar
Beck, A.T., Steer, R.A., Brown, G.K. (2000). BDI: Fast screen for medical patients. San Antonio, TX: The Psychological Corporation.Google Scholar
Blaney, P.H. (1986). Affect and memory: A review. Psychological Bulletin, 2, 229246.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bruce, J.M., Arnett, P.A. (2005). MS patients with depressive symptoms exhibit affective memory biases when verbal encoding strategies are suppressed. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 11(5), 514521.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Busch, C.R., Alpern, H.P. (1998). Depression after mild traumatic brain injury: A review of current research. Neuropsychology Review, 8(2), 95108.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Campbell, D.T., Fiske, D.W. (1959). Convergent and discriminant validation by the multitrait-multimethod matrix. Psychological Bulletin, 56, 81105.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chen, J.K., Johnston, K.M., Petrides, M., Ptito, A. (2008). Neural substrates of symptoms of depression following concussion in male athletes with persisting postconcussion symptoms. Archives of General Psychiatry, 65(1), 8189.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Christensen, B.K., Segal, Z.V. (2001). Cognitive processing deficits associated with major depression. Psychopathology Research, 11, 410.Google Scholar
Costa, P., McCrae, R. (1980). Influence of extraversion and neuroticism on subjective well-being: Happy and unhappy people. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 38(4), 668678.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Costa, P., McCrae, R., Zonderman, A. (1987). Environmental and dispositional influences on well-being: Longitudinal follow-up of an American national sample. British Journal of Psychology, 78, 299306.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Covassin, T., Schatz, R., Swanik, B. (2007). Sex differences on neuropsychological function and post-concussion symptoms of concussed collegiate athletes. Neurosurgery, 61(2), 345351.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Echemendia, R.J., Cantu, R.C. (2003). Return to play following sports-related mild traumatic brain injury: The role for neuropsychology. Applied Neuropsychology, 10(1), 4855.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Echemendia, R.J., Julian, L.J. (2001). Mild traumatic brain injury in sports: Neuropsychology's contribution to a developing field. Neuropsychology Review, 11(2), 6988.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Frann, J.R., Uomoto, J.M., Katon, W.J. (2000). Sertraline in the treatment of depression following mild traumatic brain injury. Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences, 12(2), 226232.Google Scholar
Katon, W. (1984). Panic disorder and somatization: Review of 55 cases. The American Journal of Medicine, 77(1), 101106.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kelly, J.P. (1999). Traumatic brain injury and concussion in sports. Journal of the American Medical Association, 282(10), 989991.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kensinger, E.A., Corkin, S. (2003). Effect of negative emotional content on working memory and long-term memory. Emotion, 3(4), 378393.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Levens, S.M., Gotlib, I.H. (2010). Updating positive and negative stimuli in working memory in depression. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 139(4), 654664.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lovell, M.R., Iverson, G.L., Collins, M.W., Podell, K., Johnston, K.M., Pardini, J., Maroon, J.C. (2006). Measurement of symptoms following sports-related concussion: Reliability and normative data for the post-concussion scale. Applied Neuropsychology, 13(3), 166174.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Moriya, J., Tanno, Y. (2008). Dysfunction of attentional networks for non-emotional processing in negative affect. Cognition and Emotion, 23(6), 10901105.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Persson, L., Sjoberg, L. (1987). Mood and somatic symptoms. Journal of Psychosomatics Research, 31, 499511.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Randolf, C., McCrea, M., Barr, W.B. (2005). Is Neuropsychological testing useful in the management of sports-related concussion? Journal of Athletic Training, 40(3), 139152.Google Scholar
Rao, V., Lyketsos, C. (2000). Neuropsychiatric sequelae of traumatic brain injury. Psychosomatics, 41(2), 95103.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Salovey, P., O'Leary, A., Stretton, M., Fishkin, S., Drake, C. (1991). Influence of mood on judgments about health and illness. In J. Forgas (Ed.), Emotion and social judgments (pp. 241262). London: Pergamon.Google Scholar
Sanjuán, P., Pérez, A., Rueda, B., Ruiz, A. (2008). Interactive effects of attributional styles for positive and negative events on psychological distress. Personality and Individual Differences, 45(2), 187190.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schatz, P., Pardini, J.E., Lovell, M.R., Collins, M.W., Podell, K. (2006). Sensitivity and specificity of the ImPACT Test Battery for concussion in athletes. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, 21, 9199.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Scher, C.D., Ingram, R.E., Segal, Z.V. (2005). Cognitive reactivity and vulnerability: Empirical evaluation of construct activation and cognitive diatheses in unipolar depression. Clinical Psychology Review, 25(4), 487510.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schwartz, A. (2010, September 13). Suicide reveals signs of a disease seen in N.F.L. New York Times. pp. A1.Google Scholar
Segal, Z. (1988). Appraisal of the self-schema construct in cognitive models of depression. Psychological Bulletin, 103, 147162.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Van Hemert, A.M., Bakker, C.H., Vandenbroucke, J.P., Valkenburg, H.A. (1993). Psychological distress as a long-term predictor of medical utilization. International Journal of Psychiatry and Medicine, 23(3), 295305.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Watson, D., Pennebaker, J.W. (1989). Health complaints, stress, and distress: Exploring the central role of Negative Affectivity. Psychological Review, 96, 234254.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wisco, B.E., Nolen-Hoeksema, S. (2009). The interaction of mood and rumination in depression: Effects on mood maintenance and mood-congruent autobiographical memory. Journal of Rational-Emotive & Cognitive-Behavior Therapy, 27(3), 144159.CrossRefGoogle Scholar