Initial examination of the mental health disorders: screening instrument for athletes

Brad Donohue; Jesse Scott; Grace Goodwin; Kimberly A Barchard; Greg Bohall; Daniel N Allen

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1029229

Initial examination of the mental health disorders: screening instrument for athletes

Front Psychol. 2023 Aug 4:14:1029229. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1029229. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Brad Donohue¹, Jesse Scott¹, Grace Goodwin¹, Kimberly A Barchard¹, Greg Bohall², Daniel N Allen¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychology, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV, United States.
² The Chicago School of Professional Psychology, Chicago, IL, United States.

Abstract

Introduction: There is a need to psychometrically develop assessment instruments capable of screening mental health disorders in athlete populations. The current study was conducted to determine reliability, validity and clinical utility of the Mental Health Disorders Screening Instrument for Athletes (MHDSIA).

Methods and results: 259 collegiate athletes completed the MHDSIA. Factor analysis determined a single factor with good internal consistency, and this factor was positively correlated with an established measure of psychiatric symptomology (Symptom Checklist 90-R), demonstrating its concurrent validity. An optimum clinical cutoff score (i.e., 32) was determined using Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) analyses to assist appropriate mental health referrals.

Discussion: Results suggest the MHSIA is a reliable, valid, and relatively quick and easy to interpret screen for the broad spectrum of mental health disorders in collegiate athletes. As expected, NCAA athletes reported lower MHDSIA scores than club and intramural athletes, while males reported similar severity scores as females.

Keywords: athlete; clinical utility; factor analysis; mental health assessment; mental health disorders screening instrument for athletes; mental health screen; referral; sport.