Change-Event Steals “Athlete” from “College Athlete”: Perceived Impact and Depression, Anxiety, and Stress

Abstract

Introduction: This research sought to establish the impact of the change-event of COVID-19 on college athletes and members of other campus groups (eg, marching band, eSports, Reserve Officers Training Corps). The specific purpose was to assess the perceived impact and impact on mental health (eg, depression, anxiety, and stress). Methods: The survey battery presented a total of 37 items. Demographic, sport or groupspecific, and academic-related questions were included alongside the assessment of psychological well-being coming from the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21. Results: There were 249 participants completing some or all of the survey battery. It is notable that 172 participants (69.1%) indicated "a lot has changed". Common one-word responses to the experience surrounding this change-event were feeling disappointment, upset, frustrated, sadness, annoyance, and depression. Life events that conjured similar magnitude of emotion included significant injury, surgery, and losing a loved one. There were no differences by sport for the depression subscale, but 110 participants reported elevated scores and females had a higher mean depression subscale score compared with males. Differences between sports for the anxiety subscale were negated when evaluating Bonferroni correction for multiple tests, but 69 participants reported elevated scores and females had a higher mean anxiety subscale score compared with males. There was no difference by sport for the stress subscale, but 77 participants reported elevated scores and females had a higher mean stress subscale score compared with males. Discussion: Authors urge the campus and athletics community to be diligent in monitoring the holistic wellness of college athletes and members of other campus groups. Mainly, we contend it is important to consider that COVID-19 is a significant and widespread changeevent, and other change-events are known to have significant impact. We should consider that COVID-19 may be acutely and longitudinally impactful to the American college student.

The Effect of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Mental and Emotional Health of Athletes: A Systematic Review

“…Twenty-four of the 32 studies § § assessed athlete mental health at a single time point during the lockdown. This included measurements of the severity and/or prevalence of depression, | || | anxiety, {{ stress, 12,16,17,29,38,39,48,51 motivation, 42,47 hyperarousal, 12,16 and insomnia, 39,40 among others. Ha ˚kansson et al 24 found that 66% of athletes expressed worry about the future of their sport and 51% about their future playing sports.…”

“…Ha ˚kansson et al 24 found that 66% of athletes expressed worry about the future of their sport and 51% about their future playing sports. Depression was reported Davila-Torres et al 9 U a Denerel et al 11 U a U dI Cagno et al 12 U a U U U Facer-Childs et al 14 U a Fiorilli et al 16 U a U U U U Garver et al 17 U a U Gouttebarge et al 19 U U U Graupensperger et al 20 U Hagiwara et al 23 U a U Ha ˚kansson et al 24 U a U U Jagim et al 26 U a Knowles et al 27 U a U Leguizamo et al 29 U Martı ´nez-Gonza ´lez et al 30 U McGuine et al 31 U a U U U Mehrsafar et al 33 U a Melnyk et al 34 U a U U Mon-Lo ´pez et al 35 U a U Ozen et al 38 U a Parm et al 39 U a U Pensgaard et al 40 U a U U U Pillay et al 42 U a U Pons et al 43 U a U U Roberts and Lane 45 U Rubio et al 46 U a U U Ruffault et al 47 U a U U U S xenıs xık et al 48 U a Simons et al 49 U Soares et al 50 U a Vaughan et al 51 U in 19% of women and 3% of men, and anxiety in 20% of women and 5% of men. Likewise, two-thirds of athletes in the Parm et al 39 study exhibited distress, with 39.7% of women and 25% of men experiencing depressive symptoms, and 27.6% of women and 13.6% of men demonstrating anxiety.…”

COVID-19-related impact on mental health and career uncertainty in student-athletes—Data from a cohort of 7,025 athletes in an elite sport high school system in Sweden

“…Altogether, limited research has sampled young student-athletes with attention to mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic (Batalla-Gavalda et al, 2021 ; Conde et al, 2021 ; Garver et al, 2021 ; McGuine et al, 2021 ). Therefore, the present study aimed to examine mental health parameters in a cohort of student-athletes, within a nation-wide elite sport high school system in Sweden, during the COVID-19 pandemic, including the subjective impact on mental health and worry about the future of their sports and their own future in their sport, clinical ratings of depression and anxiety, and behavioral changes related to video gaming behavior.…”

Symptoms of mental illness among university student-athletes during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in Canada

“…This is not surprising. Depressive symptoms are known to be more common among women than men ( 62 ); however, the difference is usually not significant among university students and student-athletes ( 4 , 63 ). Gender differences were significant in this study, but the difference in the risk of having important level of depressive symptoms was quite small.…”