Depression, anxiety, and suicidal behaviors in a large-scale national survey of student athletes versus non-athlete college students: risk and protective factors

Abstract

Objective

This study investigates the prevalence and risk factors of internalizing disorders and suicidal behaviors in student-athletes and their non-athlete peers.

Participants

The sample consisted of 223,226 college students (69,404 student-athletes [31.09%]) who participated in the NCHA-ACHA II survey (Fall 2015–2018).

Methods

Items from the NCHA-ACHA II were used to assess severity of depression, anxiety, and suicidal behaviors. Chi-squared Test of Independence and multinomial logistic regressions were used to examine self-reported internalizing symptoms, previous diagnosis, previous use of mental health resources, and suicidal behaviors within student-athletes and non-athletes.

Results

Findings indicated high rates of internalizing symptoms. Student-athletes, both varsity and intramural/club, displayed decreased odds of internalizing symptoms, self-reported mental health diagnosis, and suicidal behaviors.

Conclusions

This study with a national sample expands previous studies showing concerning rates of mental health difficulties, student-athletes demonstrated lower odds. These findings highlight the importance of further research and need for targeted intervention within this population.

Keywords:

• Anxiety
• college student
• depression
• student-athlete
• suicide

Conflict of interest disclosure

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 the United States and received approval from the Institutional Review Board of Yale University.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.