Levels of mental distress in a national sample of Canadian university student athletes

Abstract

Mental health concerns for post-secondary students in Canada are well documented. Less well known is the mental health status of student-athletes. A recent study revealed that student athletes in the United States had lower levels of anxiety and depression than their non-athlete counterparts (Davoren & Hwang, 2014). However, there are significant differences between American and Canadian university sport systems that would limit any generalizations from these results. The current study was designed to ascertain the prevalence of mental distress in Canadian university sport participants. A nation-wide sample of 305 university student athletes (188 female; 117 male) complete the K6, a brief scale for screening of general psychological distress (Kessler et al., 2002). The sample was heterogeneous with respect to sport, region and timing of competitive season. The results showed that student athletes report relatively high levels of mental distress. The average score on the scale for the current sample was 14.3 (out of 24), whereas a comparable national average for the same age range is 4.3 (Cairney et al., 2007); 59% of the sample indicated a score above the optimal cut off for assessing prevalence of severe mental illness. There were no differences by gender or other demographic variables, however, it was found that individuals with a history of concussion showed significantly lower levels of mental distress than those without (t (270) = -1.99, p < .05, d = 0.23). It should be noted that the K6, although valid, is a screening tool, not a diagnostic tool.