Ashley Tree

Professor Isamel Benjelloun

ENC 1102
5 March 2023
Annotated Bibliography and Literature Review

Academy, U. S S. (2020, September 2). Student-Athletes: An exploration of subjective

wellbeing. Retrieved February 18, 2023, from The Sport Journal website:
https://thesportjournal.org/article/student-athletes-an-exploration-of-subjective-wellbeing
This article “An exploration of subjective wellbeing” talks about the increasing focus
many organizations including the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) has on the
mental wellbeing of their student athletes. The study was done on Division 1 athletes in a
Southeastern school comparing team sports, in vs out of season, and gender had on the
students mental health. Despite student athletes having access to some of the most support,
suicide is the fourth leading cause of death in college athletes, and it was actually found that
many students had clinical depression contrary to many professionals thought would be the
opposite. It was found that female athletes had a higher likelihood of having mental health
issues in comparison to their male athletes especially in track and field. Findings also showed
that athletes that were a part of a team sport showed more signs of overall happiness compared
to individual sports. Although there was findings that the athletes happiness was higher in their
in season, other literature which is very limited has found that the opposite is true and the data
could not reject the null hypothesis to prove otherwise.

Athletes and Mental Health: Breaking the Stigma. (2021, August 10). Retrieved from Cleveland
Clinic website : https://health.clevelandclinic.org/mental-health-in-athletes
This article “Athletes and Mental Health: Breaking the Stigma” talks about how as
athletes many have the tendency to push through their mental health problems because they do
the same thing through many different types of injuries, however many athletes don’t have the
tendency to reach out for help with their mental health problems. Despite athletes being used to
stress, many find themselves stuck in a dangerous cycle of perfectionism where they will never
be satisfied no matter how they perform. It is recommended at times that it is alright for athletes
to take a step away from their sport to work on their mental health because it can become a
distraction that can lead to many dangerous consequences. Athletes are being advised to put
their mental health first despite what the world may say otherwise.

Aviles, G.(2020, August 31). As college sports pivot, mental health becomes bigger priority.
Retrived from NBC News website:
https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/pop-culture-news/college-sports-programs-pivot-mental-
health-becomes-bigger-priority-n1238468
This article “As college sport pivot, mental health becomes bigger priority” talks about
how during Covid college athletes mental health declined significantly including a spike in
clinical depression, (in a survey of 6000 athletes, more than 20% were diagnosed) and a
massive spike in anxiety. The author mentions how many athletes have a sense of restlessness
due to their sport being more than just an extracurricular activity but rather their way of life due
to it being involved in so many different aspects of their life throughout childhood. It is further
explained how schools did everything they could trying to save the athletes' seasons during the
pandemic knowing that these athletes have been waiting for years to finally get their chance to
play for their school, only for it to be canceled is mentally draining and causes further stress
upon the athlete.

Johnson, G. (2022, May 24). Mental health issues remain on minds of student-athletes.
Retrieved from NCAA.org website: https://www.ncaa.org/news/2022/5/24/media-center-mental-
health-issues-remain-on-minds-of-student-athletes.aspx
This article “Mental health issues remain on minds of student-athletes” talks about how
this survey was a follow-up to two mental health surveys sent out during 2020 to check and see
where athletes are now regarding their mental health. A major finding was if the athlete was
comfortable seeking out help, less than half agreed that they would be comfortable. It was found
that women have the higher tendency to have depression and a sense of hopelessness. It was
found that despite it being more than two years since Covid canceled all sports seasons, many
athletes still have a sense of anxiety. The article also talks about further findings regarding
academic tendencies but many other authors typically focus on just the mental health concerns
rather than focus on how they’re performing in school.

Lindberg, E. (2021). How USC Student-Athletes Strengthen Their Game Through Mental
Health. Retrieved from USC News website: https://news.usc.edu/trojan-family/college-athlete-
mental-health-usc-sports-psychologists/
The article “How USC Student-Athletes Strengthen Their Game Through Mental Health”
talks about how a former USC basketball star who is now pro announces his struggle with
mental health illuminates to the public the real struggles of mental health for athletes. For years,
athletes have felt that they’ve needed to perform incredibly well in every way possible including
academics and their personal life including mental health. At USC, one psychologist found that
most athletes had their mental health burnout during their junior and senior years was the
typical trend more than 20 years ago. Though, she has recently found that most athletes have
the highest amount of stress when they first enter USC (college) due to the high academic
stress, covid, scholarships, and many other challenges they face. Similarly, USC has noted like
the NCAA that more than 20% of college athletes have reported being severely overwhelmed.
The article further shares personal stories from USC athletes and how they have overcome their
mental health barriers.

Review of Literature
The current state of the research is that up until recent years, mental health has been an
unspoken epidemic silently affecting thousands of college and professional athletes across the
globe. Many of the resources have mentioned the major effects COVID had specifically had on
college athletes and their mental health accordingly. As new studies have shown an increase in
mental health in college athletes, many organizations including the NCAA have shifted focus
towards this major concern.
 With the different sources I used, many of which discussed similar topics and completed
experiments or surveys to back up their findings. Both the article from USC, “How USC Student-
Athletes Strengthen Their Game Through Mental Health” and the NCAA, “ Mental health issues
remain on minds of student-athletes” shared the exact same findings that there has been a
significant increase in the rate of mental health issues in the self-reported surveys received from
the NCAA and how these organizations are striving to make changes to help athletes across all
sports. The article “An exploration of subjective wellbeing” did find similar findings as that of
both USC and the NCAA but they took it even a step further and proceeded to do a mental
health check across multiple sports, genders, and team dynamics, and reported that females
have a higher chance of mental health issues across the board but more specifically in the sport
of track and field compared to the rest that were studied. However, I must take this study as a
grain of salt because this study was done at one D1 school in the South East in comparison to
the NCAA survey that was sent to multiple D1 athletes across the nation.
The other two articles “As college sports pivot, mental health becomes a bigger priority”
and “Breaking the Stigma” talk more about how mental health has been a very hushed topic in
the world of sports despite it taking control of many athletes' lives. The NBC article specifically
talks about how coaches during COVID did everything they could to help their athletes mental
health and mood as the struggled during a very unusual timeframe knowing how it was affecting
their lives. Similarly, the USC article mentioned ways that coaches and athletes have tried to
improve their mental health and included personal stories of how they’ve grown by overcoming
their mental health issues and how it has made them a better athlete, as well as a person. The
“Breaking the Stigma” article provides a great overview to all of the other articles explaining
these effects of mental health on all athletes as a whole but continues to explain ways for
coaches and family to help out and be aware of the issues at hand.
The parts of the research that is missing and is not well known is the mental health
concerns for other college division teams as division one is the only one that has had major
testing done. There is also little research done on the mental health of college rowers as well as
the mental health of college students who do intramural sports as a comparison to see if it’s the
level the division one athletes that compete in is the reason behind the additional stress on their
mental health. I will continue to build on the research of the NCAA and USC to see the current
mental health state of a division one team as they prepare to enter their competition season
when everything is the most stressful for them.