Varsity athletes’ fitness perceptions, fitness-related self-conscious emotions and depression when sidelined from play

Abstract

Objective

Explore the association between varsity athletes’ fitness perceptions and symptoms of depression while sidelined from sport for an extended period, and test whether fitness-related self-conscious emotions (i.e., shame, guilt, authentic pride, and hubristic pride) mediate this relationship.

Participants

Varsity athletes (N = 124) from a large university in Canada where sports had been restricted for the past year due to the pandemic.

Method

Participants completed a cross-sectional self-report survey. Regression analyses testing mediation (i.e., direct and indirect effects) were used to explore the main research aim.

Results

Controlling for age and gender, separate models demonstrated significant indirect effects of fitness perceptions on depression symptoms through shame, guilt, and authentic pride, but not through hubristic pride.

Conclusion

Self-conscious emotions may be used as a tool to mitigate depression symptoms when varsity athletes are sidelined from sport for an extended period. Further research is needed to understand how self-conscious emotions develop when athletes are injured or retired.

Keywords:

• Depression
• guilt
• mental health
• pride
• self-conscious emotions
• self-perceptions
• shame

Disclosure statement

The authors have no conflicts of interest to report. The authors confirm that the research presented in this article met the ethical guidelines, including adherence to the legal requirements of Canada and received approval from the University of Toronto Ethics Review Board.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Canada Research Chair in Sexual and Gender Minority Health