ArticleFrontiers in sports and active living2022
Mental Health in German Paralympic Athletes During the 1st Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic Compared to a General Population Sample.
Article in Frontiers in sports and active living, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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11 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 20 citations in OpenAlex.
- Societal attitudes and structural barriers in coaching para-athletes: A mixed-methods systematic review.PloS one · 2025Pooled it
- Predictive Factors of Mental Health in Athletes from the Paralympic Preparation Program During Social Isolation: The Role of Sleep, Competitive Status, and Motivation.Sports (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Mental health in Para athletes-interaction with physical health problems in prospective monitoring.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Article
- Mental distress is associated with injury and illness in elite Para athletes: a 44-week prospective study over 13 860 athlete days.BMJ open sport & exercise medicine · 2025Article
- Motivational determinants of athletes' self-realisation depending on their professional qualification.BMC psychology · 2024Article
- Mental health surveillance in elite Para athletes: early identification and follow-up of athletes at risk of mental health problems.British journal of sports medicine · 2024Article
- Pandemic-specific coping, anxiety, and depression across multiple waves of COVID-19 in elite athletes with disabilities.Frontiers in psychology · 2023Article
- "The show must go on": How Paralympic athletes safeguarded their mental well-being and motivation to train for the postponed Tokyo 2020 games.Frontiers in psychology · 2023Article
- A tale of two stories: COVID-19 and disability. A critical scoping review of the literature on the effects of the pandemic among athletes with disabilities and para-athletes.Frontiers in physiology · 2022Article
- Athlete level, sport-type, and gender influences on training, mental health, and sleep during the early COVID-19 lockdown in Malaysia.Frontiers in physiology · 2022Article
- Monitoring mental distress in Para athletes in preparation, during and after the Beijing Paralympic Games 2022: A 22 week prospective mixed-method study.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2022Article
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Authors and funding
12 authors at 5 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has huge influences on daily life and is not only associated with physical but also with major psychological impacts. Mental health problems and disorders are frequently present in elite paralympic athletes. Due to the pandemic situation, new stressors (e.g., loss of routine, financial insecurity) might act upon the athletes. Therefore, the assessment of mental health in athletes during the COVID-19 pandemic is important to identify prevalence of psychological problems and propose countermeasures. Methods: The mental health of German paralympic athletes was longitudinally monitored (starting in May 2019). The athletes completed the Patient Health Questionnaire 4 (PHQ-4) on a weekly basis and reported a stress level, training hours, and training load. During the pandemic, 8 measurement time points (March 2020 to April 2021) were used to reflect the psychological health course of the athletes. In parallel, a convenience sample of the general population was questioned about their psychological distress, including the PHQ-4. To be included in the analysis, participants of both groups had to complete at least 4 measurement time points. Matching of the para-athletes and the general population sample was prioritized upon completion of the same measurement time points, gender, and age. Results: Seventy-eight paralympic athletes (40 women, 38 men, age: 29.8 ± 11.4 years) met the inclusion criteria. Seventy-eight matched pairs of the general population (40 women; 38 men; age: 30.5 ± 10.9 years) were identified. The para-athletes had a significantly ( Discussion: Lower PHQ-4 values were reported by the para-athletes compared to the general population sample. However, small sample sizes must be considered while interpreting the data. Nevertheless, adequate support for individuals suffering from severe psychopathological symptoms should be provided for para-athletes as well as for the general population.
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