Volume 1, Issue 1 (9-2021)                   APM 2021, 1(1): 30-39 | Back to browse issues page


XML Print


Download citation:
BibTeX | RIS | EndNote | Medlars | ProCite | Reference Manager | RefWorks
Send citation to:

Shahoseini M, VaezMousavi M. Mental health in Iranian elite athletes: a 14 year retrospective study. APM 2021; 1 (1) :30-39
URL: http://hasesjournal.com/article-1-32-en.html
1- Master of Psychology, Department of Psychology, Semnan University, Semnan, Iran , meysam.shahhosseni@gmail.com
2- Department of Knowledge and Cognitive Intelligence, Imam Hossein University, Teheran, Iran
Abstract:   (1324 Views)
Abstract: Little research has been carried out on the common symptoms and mental disorders in Iranian elite athletes. The purpose of this study was to identify the mental health problems in Iranian elite athletes as a retrospective study at the National Olympic Academy (NOA) of Iran. The present study is a cross-sectional and retrospective descriptive study which was conducted by evaluating the athletes' psychological documents. A total of 143 athletes (male, n= 83, female, n= 60) were analyzed from the population of elite athletes (n=240) who referred to the mental training and consulting center in the NOA during the years 2007-2021. The results showed that most athletes referred to the center to improve their performance (37.8%). Anxiety (27.3%), depression (16.8%), interpersonal problems (11.2%), impulsiveness (2.8%) post-traumatic stress (PTSD) (2.8%), sleep disturbance (1.4%) were the most common mental disorders reported by athletes. In addition, surveying the relationship between demographic characteristics and mental health issues revealed a relationship between gender and mental health problems; there was no relationship between other demographic variables with mental health problems. The results of this study illuminate the spread of common mental health problems in Iranian elite athletes over the last fourteen years. Screening and diagnosing psychological problems provide a better understanding of the application of appropriate psychological interventions and improving the mental health of elite athletes. Accordingly, future research may focus on better understanding of mental health problems reported in this study and studies them in a larger population.
Full-Text [PDF 685 kb]   (471 Downloads)    
Type of Study: Original Article | Subject: Motor behavior
Received: 2021/11/9 | Accepted: 2021/09/23 | Published: 2021/09/23

References
1. References Abram, K. M., Paskar, L. D., Washburn, J. J., & Teplin, L. A. (2008). Perceived barriers to mental health services among youths in detention. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 47(3), 301-308. [Google Scholar] Baillie, P. H., Davis IV, H., & Ogilvie, B. C. (2014). Working with elite athletes. [Google Scholar] Bangasser, D. A., Curtis, A., Reyes, B. A., Bethea, T. T., Parastatidis, I., Ischiropoulos, H., . . . Valentino, R. J. (2010). Sex differences in corticotropin-releasing factor receptor signaling and trafficking: potential role in female vulnerability to stress-related psychopathology. Molecular psychiatry, 15(9), 896-904. [Google Scholar] Birrer, D., & Morgan, G. (2010). Psychological skills training as a way to enhance an athlete's performance in high‐intensity sports. Scandinavian journal of medicine & science in sports, 20, 78-87. [Google Scholar] Brassil, H. E., & Salvatore, A. P. (2018). The frequency of post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms in athletes with and without sports related concussion. Clinical and translational medicine, 7(1), 1-9. [Google Scholar] Davis, L., & Jowett, S. (2014). Coach–athlete attachment and the quality of the coach–athlete relationship: implications for athlete’s well-being. Journal of sports sciences, 32(15), 1454-1464. [Google Scholar] Foskett, R. L., & Longstaff, F. (2018). The mental health of elite athletes in the United Kingdom. Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, 21(8), 765-770. doi: Gouttebarge, V., Backx, F. J., Aoki, H., & Kerkhoffs, G. M. (2015). Symptoms of common mental disorders in professional football (soccer) across five European countries. Journal of sports science & medicine, 14(4), 811. [Google Scholar] Gouttebarge, V., Jonkers, R., Moen, M., Verhagen, E., Wylleman, P., & Kerkhoffs, G. (2017). The prevalence and risk indicators of symptoms of common mental disorders among current and former Dutch elite athletes. Journal of sports sciences, 35(21), 2148-2156. [Google Scholar] Gouttebarge, V., Kerkhoffs, G., & Lambert, M. (2016). Prevalence and determinants of symptoms of common mental disorders in retired professional Rugby :union: players. Eur J Sport Sci, 16(5), 595-602. doi:10.1080/17461391.2015.1086819. [Google Scholar] Gulliver, A., Griffiths, K. M., & Christensen, H. (2012). Barriers and facilitators to mental health help-seeking for young elite athletes: a qualitative study. BMC psychiatry, 12(1), 1-14. [Google Scholar] Gulliver, A., Griffiths, K. M., Mackinnon, A., Batterham, P. J., & Stanimirovic, R. (2015). The mental health of Australian elite athletes. Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, 18(3), 255-261. [Google Scholar] Hanrahan, S. J., & Andersen, M. B. (2010). Routledge handbook of applied sport psychology: A comprehensive guide for students and practitioners: Routledge. [Google Scholar] Jensen, S. N., Ivarsson, A., Fallby, J., Dankers, S., & Elbe, A.-M. (2018). Depression in Danish and Swedish elite football players and its relation to perfectionism and anxiety. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 36, 147-155. [Google Scholar] Jones, M. V., & Sheffield, D. (2007). The impact of game outcome on the well‐being of athletes. International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 5(1), 54-65. [Google Scholar] Jowett, S., & Shanmugam, V. (2016). Relational coaching in sport: Its psychological underpinnings and practical effectiveness. [Google Scholar] Kilic, Ö., Johnson, U., Kerkhoffs, G. M., Rosier, P., & Gouttebarge, V. (2018). Exposure to physical and psychosocial stressors in relation to symptoms of common mental disorders among European professional football referees: a prospective cohort study. BMJ open sport & exercise medicine, 4(1), e000306. [Google Scholar] Mannes, Z. L., Waxenberg, L. B., Cottler, L. B., Perlstein, W. M., Burrell II, L. E., Ferguson, E. G., . . . Ennis, N. (2019). Prevalence and correlates of psychological distress among retired elite athletes: A systematic review. International review of sport and exercise psychology, 12(1), 265-294. [Google Scholar] Nicholls, A. R., Polman, R., Levy, A. R., Taylor, J., & Cobley, S. (2007). Stressors, coping, and coping effectiveness: Gender, type of sport, and skill differences. Journal of sports sciences, 25(13), 1521-1530. [Google Scholar] Nixdorf, I., Frank, R., Hautzinger, M., & Beckmann, J. (2013). Prevalence of depressive symptoms and correlating variables among German elite athletes. Journal of Clinical Sport Psychology, 7(4), 313-326. [Google Scholar] Philippe, R. A., & Seiler, R. (2006). Closeness, co-orientation and complementarity in coach–athlete relationships: What male swimmers say about their male coaches. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 7(2), 159-171. [Google Scholar] Rice, S. M., Parker, A. G., Rosenbaum, S., Bailey, A., Mawren, D., & Purcell, R. (2018). Sport-related concussion and mental health outcomes in elite athletes: a systematic review. Sports medicine, 48(2), 447-465. [Google Scholar] Rosenbaum, S., Tiedemann, A., Sherrington, C., Curtis, J., & Ward, P. B. (2014). Physical activity interventions for people with mental illness: a systematic review and meta-analysis. J Clin Psychiatry, 75(9), 964-974. doi:10.4088/JCP.13r08765. [Google Scholar] Schaal, K., Tafflet, M., Nassif, H., Thibault, V., Pichard, C., Alcotte, M., . . . Simon, S. (2011). Psychological balance in high level athletes: gender-based differences and sport-specific patterns. PloS one, 6(5), e19007. [Google Scholar] Sundgot-Borgen, J. (1994). Risk and trigger factors for the development of eating disorders in female elite athletes. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. [Google Scholar] Sundgot-Borgen, J., & Torstveit, M. K. (2004). Prevalence of eating disorders in elite athletes is higher than in the general population. Clinical journal of sport medicine, 14(1), 25-32. [Google Scholar] Thelwell, R. C., & Greenlees, I. A. (2003). Developing competitive endurance performance using mental skills training. The Sport Psychologist, 17(3), 318-337. [Google Scholar] Van Raalte, J. L., Brewer, B. W., Brewer, D. D., & Linder, D. E. (1992). NCAA Division II college football players' perceptions of an athlete who consults a sport psychologist. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 14(3), 273-282. [Google Scholar] Westfall, S., Martin, E. M., & Gould, D. (2018). The association between the coach-athlete relationship and burnout among high school coaches. Journal of Sport Behavior. [Google Scholar] Wolanin, A., Hong, E., Marks, D., Panchoo, K., & Gross, M. (2016). Prevalence of clinically elevated depressive symptoms in college athletes and differences by gender and sport. British journal of sports medicine, 50(3), 167-171. [Google Scholar] [DOI:10.1016/j.jsams.2017.11.016. [Google Scholar]]

Add your comments about this article : Your username or Email:
CAPTCHA

Send email to the article author


Rights and permissions
Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

© 2024 All Rights Reserved | Journal of Asian Paralympic Movement (APM)

Designed & Developed by : Yektaweb