Tamminen Katherine A, Bonk Devin, Milne Morgan-Jayde, Watson Jeanne C
Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK.
Sci Rep. 2025 Jan 23;15(1):2962. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-86195-5.
Competitive athletes report symptoms of depression and anxiety at rates similar to or higher than the general population. There is some initial evidence that difficulties in emotion regulation are positively associated with depression, anxiety, and stress among university student-athletes; however, research on emotion dysregulation in sport contexts is limited. Therefore, the purpose of the current study was to examine the associations between emotion dysregulation, sport performance concerns, and symptoms of depression and anxiety among competitive athletes. We hypothesized that: H1) emotion dysregulation and H2) sport performance concerns would be positively associated with symptoms of depression and anxiety; and H3) performance concerns would moderate the association between emotion dysregulation and symptoms of depression and anxiety. Competitive athletes (n = 272) completed online measures of emotion dysregulation, sport performance satisfaction, and symptoms of depression and anxiety. Emotion dysregulation and sport performance concerns were directly positively associated with symptoms of depression and anxiety, supporting H1 and H2. The association between emotion dysregulation and mental health symptoms was not reliably moderated by sport performance concerns; thus, H3 was only partially supported. The results suggest that emotion dysregulation is linked to mental health symptoms and may be a useful target for intervention among competitive athletes.
竞技运动员报告的抑郁和焦虑症状发生率与普通人群相似或更高。有一些初步证据表明，情绪调节困难与大学生运动员的抑郁、焦虑和压力呈正相关；然而，关于运动情境中情绪失调的研究有限。因此，本研究的目的是探讨竞技运动员的情绪失调、运动表现担忧与抑郁和焦虑症状之间的关联。我们假设：H1）情绪失调和H2）运动表现担忧与抑郁和焦虑症状呈正相关；H3）表现担忧将调节情绪失调与抑郁和焦虑症状之间的关联。272名竞技运动员完成了情绪失调、运动表现满意度以及抑郁和焦虑症状的在线测量。情绪失调和运动表现担忧与抑郁和焦虑症状直接呈正相关，支持了H1和H2。运动表现担忧并未可靠地调节情绪失调与心理健康症状之间的关联；因此，H3仅得到部分支持。结果表明，情绪失调与心理健康症状有关，可能是竞技运动员干预的一个有用靶点。
