Athlete Identity and Mental Health of Student Athletes during COVID-19

Katherine Antoniak; Clea Tucker; Katherine Rizzone; Tishya A L Wren; Bianca Edison

doi:10.3390/ijerph192417062

Athlete Identity and Mental Health of Student Athletes during COVID-19

Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Dec 19;19(24):17062. doi: 10.3390/ijerph192417062.

Authors

Katherine Antoniak¹, Clea Tucker², Katherine Rizzone³, Tishya A L Wren¹, Bianca Edison^{1

4}

Affiliations

¹ Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90027, USA.
² School of Kinesiology, California State University Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90032, USA.
³ Department of Orthopaedics, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY 15618, USA.
⁴ Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90033, USA.

Abstract

The purpose of our study is to evaluate athletic identity (AI) and mental health measures of youth and young adult athletes during the COVID-19 pandemic. This cross-sectional study recruited athletes aged 11-25 years from universities, high schools, and middle schools in California and New York. Participants were emailed a link to an anonymous, cross-sectional electronic survey. The measure included the athletic identity measurement scale (AIMS), the Patient Health Questionnaire-4 (PHQ-4), and demographic variables. Chi-square, Fisher's Exact Test, and linear regression were used to examine the relationships between AI, symptoms of anxiety, and symptoms of depression by age, gender, and race. The survey was completed by 653 participants. AI was stratified by tertiary percentiles. The odds of positively scoring for symptoms of anxiety were 60% higher for participants in college compared with high school (OR: 1.60, 95% CI: [1.09, 2.35]). Conversely, the odds of scoring positively for symptoms of depression were 68% higher for participants in high school compared to college (OR: 1.68, 95% CI: [1.09, 2.59]). The odds of scoring positively for symptoms of depression were higher for athletes who scored as high AI, compared to those who scored as moderate (OR: 1.72, 95% CI: [1.11, 2.68]) or low (OR: 1.93, 95% CI: [1.20, 3.12]). The odds of scoring positively for symptoms of anxiety on the PHQ-4 were 3.2 times higher for participants who identified as female (OR: 3.19, 95% CI: [2.31, 4.41]), and the odds of scoring positively for symptoms of depression were 2.4 times higher for participants who identified as female (OR: 2.35, 95% CI: [1.56, 3.54]). Female athletes experienced symptoms of depression and anxiety at significantly higher rates than male athletes during the COVID-19 pandemic. High school students experienced fewer symptoms of anxiety, but greater symptoms of depression as compared to the collegiate group, while college students experienced greater odds of symptoms of anxiety. Athletes in the high AI group were more likely to report symptoms of depression than moderate or low identity groups. Female athletes reported lower AI than male athletes, but still had greater symptoms of anxiety and depression.

Keywords: COVID-19; adolescent and young adult; athlete; athletic identity; health; mental health; youth.

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Athletes / psychology
COVID-19* / epidemiology
Cross-Sectional Studies
Depression / epidemiology
Female
Humans
Male
Mental Health*
Pandemics
Students / psychology
Universities
Young Adult

Grants and funding

This research received no external funding.