Armino N, Gouttebarge V, Mellalieu S, Schlebusch R, van Wyk J P, Hendricks S
Division of Exercise Science and Sports Medicine, Department of Human Biology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
Health, Physical Activity, Lifestyle and Sport (HPALS) Research Centre, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
S Afr J Sports Med. 2021 Jan 15;33(1):v33i1a10679. doi: 10.17159/2078-516X/2021/v33i1a10679. eCollection 2021.
The poor mental health of athletes is a major concern in sport. Typically, the incidence/prevalence of mental health symptoms in athletes is studied using symptom-specific questionnaires. For symptoms of depression/anxiety, one such self-reporting questionnaire is the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12).
The aim of this review was to synthesise and compare studies using the GHQ-12 in athletes to inform future research bodies by identifying trends and gaps in the literature.
A systematic search of five electronic databases (Google Scholar, PubMed, PsychINFO, Scopus and Web of Science) was conducted on all published studies up to 1 January 2019. Inclusion criteria: (1) participants were able-bodied athletes; (2) studies measured anxiety/depression using the GHQ-12; (3) studies were full original articles from peer-reviewed journals; (4) studies were published in English.
Thirty-two studies were included in the review. The prevalence and incidence of symptoms of anxiety/depression ranged from 21-48% and 17-57%, respectively. The majority of studies screening anxiety/depression using the GHQ-12 were cross-sectional. Almost 70% of the studies used the traditional scoring method. The majority of study populations sampled all-male cohorts comprising football (soccer) players.
The traditional scoring of 0-0-1-1 should be used with the cut-off set at ≥3. Also, the mean GHQ-12 score should be reported. Potential risk factors for symptoms of anxiety/depression (i.e. recent adverse life events, injury and illness, social support, pressure to perform and career transitioning) and a lack of prospective studies were identified. Future research should also broaden the spectrum of athlete populations used and aim to improve response rates.
运动员心理健康状况不佳是体育界的一个主要问题。通常，使用特定症状问卷来研究运动员心理健康症状的发生率/患病率。对于抑郁/焦虑症状，一种这样的自我报告问卷是12项一般健康问卷（GHQ - 12）。
本综述的目的是综合和比较在运动员中使用GHQ - 12的研究，通过识别文献中的趋势和差距为未来的研究机构提供信息。
对截至2019年1月1日的所有已发表研究在五个电子数据库（谷歌学术、PubMed、PsychINFO、Scopus和科学网）中进行系统检索。纳入标准：（1）参与者为身体健全的运动员；（2）研究使用GHQ - 12测量焦虑/抑郁；（3）研究为同行评审期刊上的完整原创文章；（4）研究以英文发表。
32项研究纳入本综述。焦虑/抑郁症状的患病率和发生率分别为21% - 48%和17% - 57%。大多数使用GHQ - 12筛查焦虑/抑郁的研究是横断面研究。近70%的研究使用传统评分方法。大多数研究人群抽取的是全男性队列，包括足球运动员。
应使用0 - 0 - 1 - 1的传统评分，临界值设定为≥3。此外，应报告GHQ - 12的平均得分。确定了焦虑/抑郁症状的潜在风险因素（即近期不良生活事件、伤病、社会支持、表现压力和职业转型）以及前瞻性研究的缺乏。未来的研究还应拓宽所使用的运动员人群范围，并旨在提高回复率。
