Gender differences in mental health symptoms and risk factors in Australian elite athletes

ObjectivesTo examine gender differences in the reporting of, and contributors to, mental health symptoms.MethodsThis was a cross-sectional observational study of adult athletes within a national elite sporting system (n=523; women=292;56%), who completed a battery of assessments including measures o...

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Published in:BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine 2021-03, Vol.7 (1), p.e000984-e000984
Main Authors: Walton, Courtney C, Rice, Simon, Gao, Caroline X, Butterworth, Matt, Clements, Matti, Purcell, Rosemary
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alcohol use
Anxiety
Athletes
Confidentiality
depression
Exercise
gender
Gender differences
Insomnia
Mental depression
Mental disorders
Mental health
psychiatry
Questionnaires
Risk factors
Self esteem
Short Report
Social conflict
Social networks
sport and exercise psychology
Well being
Women
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cited_by cdi_FETCH-LOGICAL-b573t-49daf5818455cf164c46938f15033e65f212528c9c6d0318afa6f794bb8497a63
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container_title BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine
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creator Walton, Courtney C
Rice, Simon
Gao, Caroline X
Butterworth, Matt
Clements, Matti
Purcell, Rosemary
description ObjectivesTo examine gender differences in the reporting of, and contributors to, mental health symptoms.MethodsThis was a cross-sectional observational study of adult athletes within a national elite sporting system (n=523; women=292;56%), who completed a battery of assessments including measures of mental health and adverse life events. Group differences across a range of scores were examined, followed by gender-stratified bootstrapped linear regression and meta-regression on measures where gender differences were observed.ResultsWomen athletes reported higher rates of mental health symptoms, and lower rates of mental well-being, although there were no differences in general psychological distress or life satisfaction. Women reported experiencing several adverse life events at higher rates than men; particularly interpersonal conflict, financial hardship and discrimination. Low self-esteem was consistently associated with poorer mental health outcomes for all athletes. While a range of factors were associated with poor mental health in men or women athletes, meta-regression suggested that experiencing financial difficulty and social media abuse were more uniquely associated with mental health symptoms in men.ConclusionGender differences in mental health in elite athletes are apparent. Approaches to increasing well-being are required in elite sport.
doi_str_mv 10.1136/bmjsem-2020-000984
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Group differences across a range of scores were examined, followed by gender-stratified bootstrapped linear regression and meta-regression on measures where gender differences were observed.ResultsWomen athletes reported higher rates of mental health symptoms, and lower rates of mental well-being, although there were no differences in general psychological distress or life satisfaction. Women reported experiencing several adverse life events at higher rates than men; particularly interpersonal conflict, financial hardship and discrimination. Low self-esteem was consistently associated with poorer mental health outcomes for all athletes. While a range of factors were associated with poor mental health in men or women athletes, meta-regression suggested that experiencing financial difficulty and social media abuse were more uniquely associated with mental health symptoms in men.ConclusionGender differences in mental health in elite athletes are apparent. Approaches to increasing well-being are required in elite sport.</description><identifier>ISSN: 2055-7647</identifier><identifier>EISSN: 2055-7647</identifier><identifier>DOI: 10.1136/bmjsem-2020-000984</identifier><identifier>PMID: 33754081</identifier><language>eng</language><publisher>England: BMJ Publishing Group Ltd</publisher><subject>Alcohol use ; Anxiety ; Athletes ; Confidentiality ; depression ; Exercise ; gender ; Gender differences ; Insomnia ; Mental depression ; Mental disorders ; Mental health ; psychiatry ; Questionnaires ; Risk factors ; Self esteem ; Short Report ; Social conflict ; Social networks ; sport and exercise psychology ; Well being ; Women</subject><ispartof>BMJ Open Sport &amp; Exercise Medicine, 2021-03, Vol.7 (1), p.e000984-e000984</ispartof><rights>Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2021. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.</rights><rights>2021 Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2021. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited, appropriate credit is given, any changes made indicated, and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ . Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.</rights><rights>Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2021. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ. 2021</rights><lds50>peer_reviewed</lds50><oa>free_for_read</oa><woscitedreferencessubscribed>false</woscitedreferencessubscribed><citedby>FETCH-LOGICAL-b573t-49daf5818455cf164c46938f15033e65f212528c9c6d0318afa6f794bb8497a63</citedby><cites>FETCH-LOGICAL-b573t-49daf5818455cf164c46938f15033e65f212528c9c6d0318afa6f794bb8497a63</cites><orcidid>0000-0003-4045-8553 ; 0000-0003-0835-2310</orcidid></display><links><openurl>$$Topenurl_article</openurl><openurlfulltext>$$Topenurlfull_article</openurlfulltext><thumbnail>$$Tsyndetics_thumb_exl</thumbnail><linktopdf>$$Uhttps://www.proquest.com/docview/2497444711/fulltextPDF?pq-origsite=primo$$EPDF$$P50$$Gproquest$$Hfree_for_read</linktopdf><linktohtml>$$Uhttps://www.proquest.com/docview/2497444711?pq-origsite=primo$$EHTML$$P50$$Gproquest$$Hfree_for_read</linktohtml><link.rule.ids>230,314,727,780,784,885,25753,27549,27550,27924,27925,37012,37013,44590,53791,53793,55350,75126,77601,77632,77660,77686</link.rule.ids><backlink>$$Uhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33754081$$D View this record in MEDLINE/PubMed$$Hfree_for_read</backlink></links><search><creatorcontrib>Walton, Courtney C</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Rice, Simon</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Gao, Caroline X</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Butterworth, Matt</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Clements, Matti</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Purcell, Rosemary</creatorcontrib><title>Gender differences in mental health symptoms and risk factors in Australian elite athletes</title><title>BMJ Open Sport &amp; Exercise Medicine</title><addtitle>BMJ Open Sp Ex Med</addtitle><addtitle>BMJ Open Sport Exerc Med</addtitle><addtitle>BMJ Open Sport Exerc Med</addtitle><description>ObjectivesTo examine gender differences in the reporting of, and contributors to, mental health symptoms.MethodsThis was a cross-sectional observational study of adult athletes within a national elite sporting system (n=523; women=292;56%), who completed a battery of assessments including measures of mental health and adverse life events. Group differences across a range of scores were examined, followed by gender-stratified bootstrapped linear regression and meta-regression on measures where gender differences were observed.ResultsWomen athletes reported higher rates of mental health symptoms, and lower rates of mental well-being, although there were no differences in general psychological distress or life satisfaction. Women reported experiencing several adverse life events at higher rates than men; particularly interpersonal conflict, financial hardship and discrimination. Low self-esteem was consistently associated with poorer mental health outcomes for all athletes. While a range of factors were associated with poor mental health in men or women athletes, meta-regression suggested that experiencing financial difficulty and social media abuse were more uniquely associated with mental health symptoms in men.ConclusionGender differences in mental health in elite athletes are apparent. 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Exercise Medicine</jtitle><stitle>BMJ Open Sp Ex Med</stitle><stitle>BMJ Open Sport Exerc Med</stitle><addtitle>BMJ Open Sport Exerc Med</addtitle><date>2021-03-05</date><risdate>2021</risdate><volume>7</volume><issue>1</issue><spage>e000984</spage><epage>e000984</epage><pages>e000984-e000984</pages><issn>2055-7647</issn><eissn>2055-7647</eissn><abstract>ObjectivesTo examine gender differences in the reporting of, and contributors to, mental health symptoms.MethodsThis was a cross-sectional observational study of adult athletes within a national elite sporting system (n=523; women=292;56%), who completed a battery of assessments including measures of mental health and adverse life events. Group differences across a range of scores were examined, followed by gender-stratified bootstrapped linear regression and meta-regression on measures where gender differences were observed.ResultsWomen athletes reported higher rates of mental health symptoms, and lower rates of mental well-being, although there were no differences in general psychological distress or life satisfaction. Women reported experiencing several adverse life events at higher rates than men; particularly interpersonal conflict, financial hardship and discrimination. Low self-esteem was consistently associated with poorer mental health outcomes for all athletes. While a range of factors were associated with poor mental health in men or women athletes, meta-regression suggested that experiencing financial difficulty and social media abuse were more uniquely associated with mental health symptoms in men.ConclusionGender differences in mental health in elite athletes are apparent. 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subjects Alcohol use
Anxiety
Athletes
Confidentiality
depression
Exercise
gender
Gender differences
Insomnia
Mental depression
Mental disorders
Mental health
psychiatry
Questionnaires
Risk factors
Self esteem
Short Report
Social conflict
Social networks
sport and exercise psychology
Well being
Women
title Gender differences in mental health symptoms and risk factors in Australian elite athletes
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