ArticleJournal of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry2022
Longitudinal trajectory of depression symptom severity and the influence of concussion history and physical function over a 19-year period among former National Football League (NFL) players: an NFL-LONG Study.
Article in Journal of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT07599475 (Boosting Brain and Balance), which is not on this map. Cited by 17 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Boosting Brain and Balance: A Mobile Dual-Task Intervention for Athletes With Concussion and Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (mTBI)
Who cites it
17 citing papers in PubMed, 35 citations in OpenAlex.
- Demographic and Football-Related Characteristics Associated with Objective Cognitive Performance in Former NFL Players with a Normative Sample Comparison: An NFL-LONG Study.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2026Article
- Association of arthritis and total joint arthroplasty with self-reported function in former professional American-style football players.PM & R : the journal of injury, function, and rehabilitation · 2026Article
- Cognitive and Neuropsychiatric Function in Former American Football Players.JAMA network open · 2026Article
- Bilateral association between muscle strength and depression: evidence from a prospective cohort study.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Long-term neurobehavioral and neuroimaging outcomes in athletes with prior concussion(s) and head impact exposure.The Clinical neuropsychologist · 2025Review
- Associations of Collegiate Football Career and Incident Concussion with Players' Health: A Longitudinal Study from the CARE Consortium.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2025Article
- Epidemiological Principles in Claims of Causality: An Enquiry into Repetitive Head Impacts (RHI) and Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE).Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2025Review
- Association of concussion history with psychiatric symptoms, limbic system structure, and kynurenine pathway metabolites in healthy, collegiate-aged athletes.Brain, behavior, and immunity · 2025Article
- Mental health symptom burden in elite ice hockey players and its association with self-reported concussive events.BMC sports science, medicine & rehabilitation · 2024Article
- The Longitudinal Relationship Between Concussion History, Years of American Football Participation, and Alcohol Use Among Former National Football League Players: an NFL-LONG Study.Archives of clinical neuropsychology : the official journal of the National Academy of Neuropsychologists · 2024Article
- Associations between repetitive head impact exposure and midlife mental health wellbeing in former amateur athletes.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2024Article
- Prevalence of anxiety and depression in former elite athletes: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMJ open sport & exercise medicine · 2024Article
- Incorporation of concussion history as part of the LIfestyle for BRAin Health (LIBRA) modifiable factors risk score and associations with cognition in older former National Football League players.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2023Article
- Effects of contact/collision sport history on gait in early- to mid-adulthood.Journal of sport and health science · 2023Article
- Longitudinal trajectories of depressive symptoms: the role of multimorbidity, mobility and subjective memory.BMC geriatrics · 2023Article
- High School Football and Risk for Depression and Suicidality in Adulthood: Findings From a National Longitudinal Study.Frontiers in neurology · 2021Article
- Silent Struggles: Traumatic Brain Injuries and Mental Health in Law Enforcement.The Journal of head trauma rehabilitationArticle
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
10 authors at 5 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveThis study investigated the longitudinal course of depressive symptom severity over 19 years in former American football players and the influence of concussion history, contact sport participation and physical function on observed trajectories.
methodsFormer American football players completed a general health questionnaire involving demographic information, medical/psychiatric history, concussion/football history and validated measures of depression and physical function at three time points (2001, 2010 and 2019). Parallel process latent growth curve modelling tested associations between concussion history, years of football participation, and overall and change in physical function on the overall level and trajectory of depressive symptoms.
resultsAmong the 333 participants (mean(SD) age, 48.95 (9.37) at enrolment), there was a statistically significant, but small increase in depressive symptom severity from 2001 (48.34 (7.75)) to 2019 (49.77 (9.52)), slope=0.079 (SE=0.11), p=0.007. Those with greater concussion history endorsed greater overall depressive symptom severity, B=1.38 (SE=0.33), p<0.001. Concussion history, B<0.001 (SE=0.02), p=0.997 and years of participation, B<0.001 (SE=0.01), p=0.980, were not associated with rate of change (slope factor) over 19 years. Greater decline in physical function, B=-0.71 (SE=0.16), p<0.001, was predictive of a faster growth rate (ie, steeper increase) of depression symptom endorsement over time.
conclusionsConcussion history, not years of participation, was associated with greater depressive symptom severity. Neither factor was predictive of changes over a 19-year period. Decline in physical function was a significant predictor of a steeper trajectory of increased depressive symptoms, independent of concussion effects. This represents one viable target for preventative intervention to mitigate long-term neuropsychiatric difficulties associated with concussion across subsequent decades of life.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.