Personality and Risk Taking in Sports: A Focus on Unintentional and Intentional Head Impacts in Amateur Soccer Players

Objective:In soccer, unintentional and intentional (heading) head impacts are associated with concussive symptoms and cognitive dysfunction. We examined whether personality traits were associated with these behaviors in soccer players.Design:Cross-sectional study.Setting and Participants:Participants completed study visits at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. A total of 307 adult amateur soccer players, recruited from New York City and the surrounding area, completed 737 HeadCount-2w questionnaires.Predictor Variables:Personality traits (intellect/imagination, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism) were assessed with the Mini-International Personality Item Pool questionnaire at the baseline study visit.Main Outcome Measures:Participants completed an online questionnaire (HeadCount-2w) to ascertain frequency of intentional head impacts and occurrence of unintentional head impacts every 3 to 6 months. Generalized estimating equations repeated-measures regressions determined whether personality predicted unintentional and intentional impacts.Results:Personality traits were not associated with unintentional head impact(s) or frequency of intentional head impacts.Conclusions:These findings have important clinical implications, suggesting that personality is not driving the association between high levels of unintentional and intentional head impacts and worse neuropsychological functioning and concussive symptoms.