Amanda McCue, Leslie Podlog, Jeffrey Caron

Athletes with sport-related concussion (SRC) are advised to follow the 6-step graduated return to sport (RTS) strategy, which emphasizes physical recovery. Step 5 mentions “restoring confidence”, yet the term is not defined nor is it clear how to restore confidence. This qualitative study explored athlete confidence during RTS following SRC. Guided by a critical realist philosophical positioning, we conducted 14 semi-structured interviews with athletes (n = 8) who experienced SRC and identified confidence as a factor in RTS, as well as coaches (n = 3) and healthcare professionals (n = 3) with experience supporting athletes during RTS. Athletes also completed a timelining activity to visually map changes in confidence. Data analysis is underway. We used Braun et al.’s (2022) thematic analysis with Fletcher’s (2017) critical realist framework to provide explanatory depth on how athletes experienced confidence and why confidence may shift over time. Our preliminary findings support confidence as multidimensional. Athletes described confidence as trust in their body’s ability to handle sport demands, manage concussion-related symptoms, and execute sport-specific skills without excessive overthinking. Confidence was also shaped by social contexts, including healthcare support and clear communication about symptoms and recovery. Confidence appeared closely tied to altered beliefs about playing abilities and efforts to rebuild sport-related competence during RTS. Anxiety and doubt often emerged during moments of uncertainty. Given the many definitions and measures of confidence in the psychology literature, this study will ideally contribute to an initial understanding of lived experience with confidence to RTS following SRC.