Journal article
Prevalence of clinically elevated depressive symptoms in college athletes and differences by gender and sport
British journal of sports medicine, v 50(3), pp 167-171
Feb 2016
PMID: 26782764
Featured in Collection : UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
Abstract
Background : There are approximately 400 000 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) student athletes and 5–7 million high school student athletes competing each year. According to the US Department of Health and Human Services, the depression prevalence rate for young adults, which ranges from 10% to 85% across studies, is higher than that of other age groups. Given the relatively high prevalence of depression in individuals of collegiate age in the general population, the prevalence of depression among athletes in this age group warrants further study. This multiyear study examined the prevalence of depressive symptoms in college athletes, as well as demographic factors related to increased or decreased rates of depressive symptoms by gender and sport.
Objective : To describe the prevalence of depression symptoms among NCAA division I student athletes at a single institution over 3 consecutive years.
Method : Participants (n=465) completed a battery of measures during their yearly spring sports medicine physical across 3 consecutive years. The battery included the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) and a demographic questionnaire, administered during the course of routine sports medicine physical examinations. Differences in depressive symptoms prevalence and relative risk ratios were calculated by gender and sport.
Results : The prevalence rate for a clinically relevant level of depressive symptoms, as measured on the CES-D (CES-D ≥16), was 23.7%. A moderate to severe level of depressive symptoms was reported by 6.3%. There was a significant gender difference in prevalence of depressive symptoms, χ2 (1)=7.459, p=0.006, with female athletes exhibiting 1.844 times the risk of male athletes for endorsing clinically relevant symptoms.
Conclusions : The CES-D identified clinically relevant levels of depressive symptoms in nearly one-quarter of college student athletes in this large cross-sectional sample. Female college athletes reported significantly more depressive symptoms than males. Findings suggest that depression prevalence among college athletes is comparable to that found in the general college population. In light of these findings, sports medicine personnel may wish to implement depression screening and assessment of depressive symptoms across sports to identify at-risk athletes. Risk factors related to depression in college athletes warrant additional study.
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Details
- Title
- Prevalence of clinically elevated depressive symptoms in college athletes and differences by gender and sport
- Creators
- Andrew Wolanin - Kean UniversityEugene Hong - Drexel UniversityDonald Marks - Kean UniversityKelly Panchoo - Drexel UniversityMichael Gross - College of New Jersey
- Publication Details
- British journal of sports medicine, v 50(3), pp 167-171
- Publisher
- British Medical Journal (BMJ)
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Sports Medicine
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:000369998100012
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-85000366442
- Other Identifier
- 991021864305704721
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- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- Web of Science research areas
- Sport Sciences