The proposed project seeks to better understand how parents are involved in the implementation of the NCAA sickle cell trait screening process and their role in recommending risk-reducing health behaviors to their children who are NCAA athletes. To explore these objectives, researchers will collect survey and semi- structured interview data from NCAA athletes and their parents to determine the magnitude and nature of parental influence on this process and whether parental factors predict differences in this involvement. Additionally, this study will examine whether parents of NCAA athletes who have sickle cell trait provide health-related guidance, the nature and rationale for these health messages, and the source of this information. More broadly, the results will identify opportunities for health policymakers and researchers to adapt educational efforts to account for the role of parents in genetic screening and health decision-making in healthy, late adolescent populations.
The proposed study will use surveys and in-depth interviews from National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) athletes and their parents to determine the extent and nature of parental involvement sickle cell trait (SCT) screening. This project will assess whether parental characteristics predict differences in athletes' decisions to receive or opt out of SCT screening. In addition, the study will examine the parental health guidance that NCAA athletes who have SCT receive and identify factors that influence parents' decisions about when and how to intervene within this context and other similar public health endeavors.
