The prevalence of mental health problems in elite athletes

Abstract

Objectives: The first aim was to examine mental health problems (MHP) in elite athletes addressing prevalence, sex-differences, onset, recurrent episodes, help-seeking, symptoms of specific disorders and previous psychiatric diagnoses. The second aim was to investigate if sport-specific instruments could indicate clinical levels of psychiatric symptoms.

Design: Cross-sectional survey.

Methods: Elite athletes representing different Swedish national teams and applying for a university scholarship (n=333) answered a web-based survey. Females represented 58.9%. Mean age was 24.6(±3.1) years and 77.2% were individual- and 22.8% team-sport athletes.

Results: Lifetime prevalence of MHP was 51.7% (females 58.2%, males 42.3%). Point prevalence was 11.7% (females 13.8%, males 8.8%). Onset of first MHP episode peaked at age 19 with 50% of onsets between ages 17-21. Recurrent episodes were common, and females sought help more than males (females 37.8%, males 16.8%). Overall 19.5% reached the clinical cut-offs for symptoms of anxiety and/or depression (females 26.0%, males 10.2%). Previous psychiatric diagnoses existed among 8.1% (females 10.7%, males 4.4%). A depressive disorder, an eating disorder or a trauma and stress related disorder (self-reported as burnout) were most common. Finally, most sport-specific instruments (80%) demonstrated a fair diagnostic accuracy compared to clinically validated instruments.

Conclusions: Lifetime prevalence of MHP was reported by more than half of the athletes. Symptoms manifested in young age and recurrent episodes were common. Sport-specific instruments indicating when symptoms reach clinical levels are potentially useful for data summary purposes on a group level, but without sufficiently high sensitivity and specificity to be recommend for applied work with athletes.

Keywords: Help-seeking; Measurement; Onset; Psychiatric disorders.