Prevalence of mental health symptoms among adolescent male student-athletes
Presentation Type
Abstract
Faculty Advisor
Luis Torres
Access Type
Event
Start Date
25-4-2025 9:00 AM
End Date
25-4-2025 9:59 AM
Description
Background: Anxiety, depression, and disordered eating remain as the leading mental health conditions among adolescent male students. Despite participation in sport, however, there is reason to believe adolescent male student-athletes are not immune to these same conditions. There is currently a significant lack of evidence on the prevalence rates of these mental health symptoms among adolescent male student-athletes. An improved understanding of theseprevalence rates can help sports medicine healthcare providers of adolescent male student-athletes develop more targeted mental health interventions to improve patient outcomes. Methods: A cross-sectional survey study of 57 adolescent male student-athletes was conducted at a private, all-male Catholic high school in Northern New Jersey during March 2025. All student-athletes were provided with the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7), the Patient Health Questionnaire for Adolescents (PHQ-A), and the SCOFF questionnaires to assess for symptom of anxiety, depression, and disordered eating, respectively. All questionnaires were delivered via the smartphone application of an online platform called PROmotion Health and around the start of the Spring sports season. Results: All data has been collected at this point. Data analysis will be conducted within the next two weeks. Descriptive statistics for all mental health symptoms will be reported. Correlations will also be explored between the mental symptoms to look for possible existing relationships.
Prevalence of mental health symptoms among adolescent male student-athletes
Background: Anxiety, depression, and disordered eating remain as the leading mental health conditions among adolescent male students. Despite participation in sport, however, there is reason to believe adolescent male student-athletes are not immune to these same conditions. There is currently a significant lack of evidence on the prevalence rates of these mental health symptoms among adolescent male student-athletes. An improved understanding of theseprevalence rates can help sports medicine healthcare providers of adolescent male student-athletes develop more targeted mental health interventions to improve patient outcomes. Methods: A cross-sectional survey study of 57 adolescent male student-athletes was conducted at a private, all-male Catholic high school in Northern New Jersey during March 2025. All student-athletes were provided with the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7), the Patient Health Questionnaire for Adolescents (PHQ-A), and the SCOFF questionnaires to assess for symptom of anxiety, depression, and disordered eating, respectively. All questionnaires were delivered via the smartphone application of an online platform called PROmotion Health and around the start of the Spring sports season. Results: All data has been collected at this point. Data analysis will be conducted within the next two weeks. Descriptive statistics for all mental health symptoms will be reported. Correlations will also be explored between the mental symptoms to look for possible existing relationships.
Comments
Poster presentation at the 2025 Student Research Symposium.