Depressive symptoms in high-performance athletes and non-athletes: a comparative meta-analysis

Abstract

Objective: To assess whether a difference exists in prevalence of mild or more severe depressive symptoms between high-performance athletes and non-athletes. Design:Comparative odds-ratio meta-analysis. Data sources:We searched PSYCHINFO, PUBMED, MEDLINE, CINHAL, SPORTDiscus, and Google Scholar as well as the reference lists of reviews of mental health issues in highperformance athletes. Eligibility:We included studies that compared high-performance athletes and non-athletes, included a validated measure of depressive symptoms, and included the prevalence of individuals who indicated at least mild depressive symptoms.Results: Five articles reporting data from 1545 high-performance athletes and 1811 non-athletes were examined. A comparative odds-ratio meta-analysis found high-performance athletes were no more likely than non-athletes to report mild or more severe depressive symptoms (OR=1.15, 95% CI=.954, 1.383, p=.145). Male high-performance athletes (n=940) were no more likely than male non-athletes (n=605) to report mild or more severe depressive symptoms (OR=1.17, 95% CI=.839, 1.616, p=.362). For females, high-performance athletes (n=948) were no more likely than non-athletes (n=605) to report mild or more severe depressive symptoms (OR=1.11, 95% CI=.846, 1.442, p=.464). Overall, male high-performance athletes (n=874) were 52% less likely to report mild or more severe depressive symptoms than female high-performance athletes (n=705) (OR=.48, 95% CI=.369, .621, p<.001).Comparing depressive symptoms 4 Summary/conclusions: High-performance athletes were just as likely as non-athletes to report depressive symptoms. Researchers need to move beyond self-report measures of depressive symptoms and examine the prevalence of clinically diagnosed depressive disorders in athletes.

Trend to symptom-based depression in sub-elite and sports athletes

“…The association shows that there is a relationship between being a sub-elite athlete and the symptoms of depression, and the moderate correlation showed that this relationship is between being an athlete and having a lower trend to disease. However, this result does not corroborate with the literature (Leila Ghaedi et al, 2014;Gorczynski et al, 2017;Kaier et al, 2015;Mohammadi et al, 2011). This difference may be related to non-elite athletes.…”

“…Proctor and Boan-Lenzo (2010) and Armstrong and Early (2009) for example reported a prevalence of lower VOLUME 15 | Proc1 | 2020 | S17 depression symptoms in elite athletes than in non-athletes. Fahim Devin et al (2015), Frank et al (2013) and Gorczynski et al (Gorczynski et al, 2017) found higher prevalence in athletes.…”

“Someone to Talk to”: Influence of Player Welfare Provision on Mental Health in Professional Rugby League Players

“…This compares with 13.2% of CMD in the general population of men in England (McManus et al, 2016), and 15.2% of CMD in the general population of men globally (Steel et al, 2014). While previous studies have indicated that elite athletes experience a broadly comparable risk of common mental health disorders as the general population (Du Preez et al, 2017;Gorczynski et al, 2017;Reardon & Factor, 2010;Rice et al, 2016), our results suggest rugby league players may constitute a sub-group of athletes at increased risk for mental health problems (Gulliver et al, 2015). Why elite rugby players would be at increased risk for mental health problems cannot be answered by data from the current survey.…”

Volunteer Motivations, Satisfaction, and Future Intent: A Comparative Analysis Between Student-Athletes and Service-Learning Students

“…Looking at the comparison between student-athletes and servicelearning students provides an opportunity to compare two groups who may have different motivational factors influencing their engagement in community service activities. Several studies have compared student-athletes to other non-student-athlete groups such as members of fraternities and sororities (Warner, Sparvero, Shapiro, & Anderson, 2017), the general student population (Gorczynski, Coyle, & Gibson, 2017;Hawley, Hosch, & Bovalrd, 2014), and service-learning students (Fuller et al, 2011). These comparisons are made because research suggests that student-athletes have different college experiences than their non-athlete counterparts due to social and physical isolation and schedule constraints (Jolly, 2008;Watt & Moore, 2001).…”