Speakers
Description
Athletes face unique personal and environmental risk factors (e.g., injuries) that influence the development of mental illness symptoms. However, there is currently a gap in the literature regarding the influence of sporting environments and risk factors on athletes’ symptoms of mental illness. The purpose of this study was to identify risk factors that influence the mental health of developing athletes (identified as next generation) in five sporting categories (individual, collective, esthetic, weight-category, and technical). 337 athletes (139 male and 198 female) completed an online survey and data were analysed using chi-squared and binary regression analysis. Barriers to help-seeking resources and being part of a sexual minority were identified as risk factors. 69.4% of athletes identified at least one barrier as ‘lack of time or access’, 43.2% at least one barrier as ‘lack of knowledge’, and 42.9% at least one barrier as ‘fear of stigma’. The barrier ‘fear of being misunderstood’ was associated with collective and endurance sports and the barrier ‘lack of knowledge’ was associated with esthetic and technical sports. Regression analysis showed that athletes who identified as a sexual minority were 4.69 times more at risk of developing clinical depressive symptoms, 3.98 times more at risk of developing clinical anxiety symptoms, and 5.68 times more at risk of developing clinical sleeping disorder symptoms. These findings highlight that more effort should be implemented to facilitate access to mental health resources. It also provides recommendations for practitioners and sporting federations to adapt or create programs to promote developing athletes’ mental health.
