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  • Title: Barriers to and Facilitators of Collegiate Athletes Seeking Mental Health Services.
    Author: Yoon JJ, Petrie T.
    Journal: J Athl Train; 2023 Sep 01; 58(9):715-721. PubMed ID: 37071503.
    Abstract:
    CONTEXT: Approximately 1 in 5 student-athletes experience some type of mental health concern. However, fewer than half of student-athletes who report mental health concerns seek mental health treatment (ie, psychotherapy or medication). Data concerning barriers to student-athletes seeking mental health care are limited but suggest that stigma is the primary reason. Further, whether having shared identities with their sport psychologists (eg, race and gender) encourages student-athletes to seek help has been minimally explored. OBJECTIVES: To determine the frequency of internal and external barriers to athletes seeking mental health care and examine the importance of athletes and sport psychologists sharing identities as a facilitator of seeking help. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING: Collegiate athletics. PATIENTS OR OTHER PARTICIPANTS: A total of 266 student-athletes (53.8% women, 42.5% White) from a National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I university. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Student-athletes responded to 9 binary (yes or no) prompts related to internal barriers (eg, beliefs and attitudes about mental health) and 7 reflecting external barriers (ie, different stakeholders, such as the head coach). Regarding facilitators of mental health help-seeking, student-athletes rated how important it was for them to share each of 10 identities with their sport psychologist from 1 (not at all important) to 5 (extremely important). All identified barriers and facilitators were derived from existing research. RESULTS: Differences were found in athletes' ratings of internal and external barriers. For example, a belief in one's own reliance and not having enough time were significant barriers, as was their head coach having a negative attitude about the importance of mental health. Female student-athletes rated sharing a gender identity with their sport psychologist as more important than did male student-athletes. CONCLUSIONS: Despite efforts by the National Collegiate Athletic Association to reduce the stigma surrounding mental health, persisting barriers within collegiate sports may keep athletes from seeking help.
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