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Abstract
Concussions are a common occurrence in athletics, especially adolescent sports. Female athletes are physiologically at higher risk of concussions, have a greater likelihood of not reporting concussions, and encounter internal and external pressures to play through or return from injury prematurely. The purpose of this study was to investigate the intrinsic and extrinsic factors contributing to youth female soccer players’ decisions to RTP after sustaining a concussion. Eight former female youth soccer players (age 20-31 years) who had sustained at least one concussion during youth soccer participated in this study, completing a semi-structured interview with questions about attitudes, intentions, social influences, and personal beliefs regarding sport-related concussions. The findings from this study indicate the importance of understanding concussion behaviors specific to the population of youth female soccer players.