The onset of COVID-19 and cancellation of collegiate sports may have exacerbated student-athletes’ psychological distress. Within a national sample of collegiate athletes (N = 5,755; 66.7% women), we determined how gender and race related to rates of depression, stress, and counseling use at the beginning of the pandemic (April/May 2020). Overall, 26.5% (n = 1,526) and 10.6% (n = 612) endorsed clinical levels of depression and stress, respectively; 25.1% (n = 1,443) and 69.7% (n = 4,014) reported subclinical levels. Few athletes (2.3%–17.1%) reported counseling use before or after the onset of COVID-19; those who did reported higher levels of depression and stress than those who never sought services. The female athletes reported higher rates of depression, stress, and counseling use than the male athletes. There were no race effects. Athletic departments must address their student-athletes’ psychological distress by facilitating a higher use of mental health services.
Purpose The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) student-athletes’ exposure to COVID-19–related events (e.g., canceled season, diagnosed with COVID) and their psychological distress in April/May 2020. Methods The link to the online survey was emailed to NCAA student-athletes by the NCAA Student Athlete Advisory Council and the athletic departments of 80 NCAA institutions. In April–May of 2020, student-athletes ( N = 5915; women = 3924) completed the online survey once. The survey included measures of their psychological distress, COVID-19 worry, and their exposure to different COVID-19–related events. To examine differences in exposure to COVID-related events by racial, ethnicity, and gender identities, we conducted logistic regressions. A path analysis examined relationships between COVID-related events, COVID-19 worry, and psychological distress for men and women. Results Student-athletes’ exposure to COVID-19 events differed significantly by gender, race, and ethnicity. In addition, 58.7% of women's and 54.5% of men's psychological distress variance was explained by the path model and mostly by their COVID-related worry. Student-athletes’ stress was directly related to the changes that occurred in class delivery (i.e., online format) and indirectly by being quarantined. Men's psychological distress was also related through worry by their sport season being canceled. Discussion The general uncertainty and worry about COVID individuals experienced at the beginning of this pandemic primarily explained the athletes' high levels of psychological distress. As COVID-19 continues to cause quarantines and changes educational experiences, the worry and psychological distress of college students are likely to continue.
Objectives Mindfulness training (MT) has emerged as a promising tool to promote cognitive functioning and psychological health. As a result, demand for scalable dissemination of MT is increasing across many time-pressured settings. One such setting is the military family. Military spouses face numerous challenges and yet there is a paucity of evidence-based training programs available that are tailored to promote their cognitive functioning and psychological health. Methods In the present study, we examined the impact of a 4-week MT program contextualized for military spouses and delivered via a peer train-the-trainer approach by fellow military spouse instructors (SIs). SIs first participated in an MT teaching practicum to learn how to deliver the program. They then delivered the MT program to military spouse participants (MT group, n = 48). The MT group was tested before (T1) and after (T2) the training interval and compared to a no-training control group (NTC group, n = 58) that did not receive MT but completed both testing sessions. Results Compared to the NTC group, the MT group showed benefits on measures of cognitive abilities, psychological health, and well-being. Particularly, benefits were reflected in the decrease over time (T1 to T2) in daily cognitive failures and depressive symptoms. Furthermore, correlation analyses revealed that greater MT practice corresponded with greater improvements in objective attentional performance. Conclusions These findings provide initial evidence for the beneficial effects of a tailored MT program when delivered by peer trainers. Trial Registration Clinicaltrials.gov (NTC03308344).
Prevalence of mental health (MH) concerns among young adults is high and continues to increase. As a specific subset of young adults, National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) athletes seem to experience these concerns at a similar or greater prevalence rate than their nonathlete, age-matched peers. Yet, how MH affects sport performance has not been robustly studied, and existing studies have not included the diversity of identities present in the collegiate athlete population. Thus, via online survey, this study explored the beliefs of 249 collegiate athletes representing diverse identities and sports regarding how MH affects sport performance. Regardless of demographic variable, 96.4%–100.0% of participants believed that MH affects sport performance. Three themes were identified: (a) collegiate athletes affirm that MH affects sport performance, (b) collegiate athletes’ perceptions of how MH affects sport performance, and (c) collegiate athletes believe that being a collegiate athlete exacerbates their MH concerns. The universality of endorsement and the themes represent novel findings that warrant further exploration of the MH–sport performance connection.
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