University of North Texas, Denton.
J Athl Train. 2023 Sep 1;58(9):715-721. doi: 10.4085/1062-6050-0559.22.
Approximately 1 in 5 student-athletes experience some type of mental health concern. However, fewer than half of student-athletes who report mental health concerns seek mental health treatment (ie, psychotherapy or medication). Data concerning barriers to student-athletes seeking mental health care are limited but suggest that stigma is the primary reason. Further, whether having shared identities with their sport psychologists (eg, race and gender) encourages student-athletes to seek help has been minimally explored.
To determine the frequency of internal and external barriers to athletes seeking mental health care and examine the importance of athletes and sport psychologists sharing identities as a facilitator of seeking help.
Cross-sectional study.
Collegiate athletics.
A total of 266 student-athletes (53.8% women, 42.5% White) from a National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I university.
Student-athletes responded to 9 binary (yes or no) prompts related to internal barriers (eg, beliefs and attitudes about mental health) and 7 reflecting external barriers (ie, different stakeholders, such as the head coach). Regarding facilitators of mental health help-seeking, student-athletes rated how important it was for them to share each of 10 identities with their sport psychologist from 1 (not at all important) to 5 (extremely important). All identified barriers and facilitators were derived from existing research.
Differences were found in athletes' ratings of internal and external barriers. For example, a belief in one's own reliance and not having enough time were significant barriers, as was their head coach having a negative attitude about the importance of mental health. Female student-athletes rated sharing a gender identity with their sport psychologist as more important than did male student-athletes.
Despite efforts by the National Collegiate Athletic Association to reduce the stigma surrounding mental health, persisting barriers within collegiate sports may keep athletes from seeking help.
大约五分之一的运动员会出现某种心理健康问题。然而，报告心理健康问题的运动员中只有不到一半寻求心理健康治疗（即心理治疗或药物治疗）。关于运动员寻求心理健康护理的障碍的数据有限，但表明耻辱感是主要原因。此外，运动员与其运动心理学家是否具有共同身份（例如，种族和性别）是否会鼓励运动员寻求帮助，这一点还很少被探讨。
确定运动员寻求心理健康护理的内部和外部障碍的频率，并研究运动员和运动心理学家共享身份作为寻求帮助的促进因素的重要性。
横断面研究。
大学体育。
来自全国大学体育协会一级大学的 266 名运动员（53.8%女性，42.5%白人）。
运动员对 9 个关于内部障碍（例如，对心理健康的信念和态度）的二进制（是或否）提示和 7 个反映外部障碍（例如，头教练等不同利益相关者）做出回应。关于寻求心理健康帮助的促进因素，运动员对与他们的运动心理学家共享 10 个身份中的每一个的重要性进行了评分，从 1（一点也不重要）到 5（极其重要）。所有确定的障碍和促进因素均来自现有研究。
运动员对内部和外部障碍的评价存在差异。例如，相信自己的能力和没有足够的时间是重要的障碍，而他们的头教练对心理健康的重要性持消极态度也是障碍。女性运动员比男性运动员更看重与运动心理学家共享性别认同。
尽管全国大学体育协会努力减少围绕心理健康的耻辱感，但大学体育界仍然存在的障碍可能会阻止运动员寻求帮助。
