How Media Framing Of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) Influences Parental Experiences In Youth Football Programs: A Mixed Methods Study

Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) is a traumatic brain injury (TBI) caused by repetitive jostling of the brain inside the skull. The disease was first discovered in boxers in the 1920s. Further accounts surfaced in combat soldiers, firefighters, and soccer players. However, once Dr. Bennett Omalu found the infliction in NFL Hall of Famer Mike Webster in 2002, CTE hit center field in the media and became synonymous with football and concussions. CTE is not a concussion. During the rise in media coverage, youth football witnessed its largest decline since Pop Warner began compiling participation data. This dissertation used a mixed-method, exploratory sequential approach to investigate the role media played in framing CTE and how the frames influenced parents in youth football programs. It used a content analysis of 225 news stories about CTE and found six prevalent frames: CTE and concussion, CTE and NFL, CTE and current players, CTE and posthumous diagnosis, CTE and youth football, and CTE and fear. To explore prevalent frames. A total of 220 parents/guardians of children between the ages of 7 and 12 who are eligible to play in a youth football program in the United States participated. The instrument was a Google Forms survey, which included short answer and Likert scale questions crafted from the content analysis findings. This study shows that parents who perceive a link between concussion and CTE from media reports are less likely to allow their children to participate in youth football. Further, four of the six frames were shown to influence parents, showing when they are exposed to news reports from these frames they adopt cautious attitudes towards their children’s football participation.