ArticleJournal of athletic training2023
Trends in Collegiate Student-Athlete Mental Health in the National College Health Assessment, 2011-2019.
Article in Journal of athletic training, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 7 citations in OpenAlex.
- Advancements in research on psychological and emotional aspects of student-athletes.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Pooled it
- Effect of finger millet diet on mental health and meta cognitive skills in young adult athletes and non-athletes.Scientific reports · 2025Trial
- Physical function factors associated with the modified star excursion balance test in healthy university students.Journal of physical therapy science · 2026Article
- Sport Satisfaction and Psychological Well-Being in Collegiate Athletes: The Role of Upbringing, Athletic Status, and Adaptive Psychological Attributes.Sports (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Exercise identity and psychological distress among university sport participants: the roles of self-compassion and training stress.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Daily academic and sport-related strain and mental-health-related states among university students in sport-related majors: a 14-day ecological momentary assessment network study.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Get your Head in the Game!: A Review of Factors that Impact Collegiate Student-Athlete Mental Health Using a Biopsychosocial-Structural Framework.Current psychiatry reports · 2025Review
- Treble or Trouble: Mental Health Experiences of Gender-Diverse Collegiate Marching Band Artists.Journal of athletic training · 2024Article
- Factors Affecting Anxiety-Related Symptoms, Diagnosis, and Treatment Among Collegiate Student-Athletes in the National College Health Assessment.Journal of athletic training · 2023Article
- Testing positive, losing a loved one, and financial hardship: Real-world impacts of COVID-19 on US college student distress.Journal of affective disorders · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
contextRecently, the athletic training community has paid increased attention to collegiate student-athlete mental health, mental health treatment-seeking behavior, and the effects of mental health factors on athletic and academic performance. Ongoing efforts to better educate and equip athletic trainers to help student-athletes in this regard should result in improved mental health-related outcomes.
objectiveTo examine changes in the mental health of student-athletes over the past decade compared with that of nonathlete students.
designCross-sectional study.
settingColleges and universities in the United States. PATIENTS OR OTHER
participantsVarsity athletes (athletes; n = 54 479) and nonathlete students (nonathletes; n = 448 301) who completed the National College Health Assessment between 2011 and 2019. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Surveys included responses (self-reported) to questions in 5 mental health-related categories: recent mental health symptoms, recent mental health diagnosis, mental health treatment-seeking behavior, receiving mental health information from the institution, and the recent effect of mental health factors on academic performance.
resultsAthletes consistently described lower symptom and diagnosis rates compared with nonathletes, except for attempted suicide, substance abuse, and eating disorders. Rates of diagnosis increased over time in both groups but remained lower in athletes. Treatment-seeking behavior and openness to future treatment increased over time in both groups but remained lower in athletes. Athletes received more information on stress reduction, substance abuse, eating disorders, and handling distress or violence compared with nonathletes. Both groups received information more frequently over time. Athletes reported fewer academic effects, especially for depression and anxiety, but these effects grew over time in both groups. The effects of injuries and extracurricular activities on academic performance were greater in athletes than in nonathletes.
conclusionsAthletes described overall lower levels of mental health symptoms, diagnoses, and academic effects compared with nonathletes. Whereas the rates in nonathletes climbed over the past decade, the rates in athletes broadly remained flat or climbed less rapidly. Increasingly positive attitudes toward treatment were encouraging, but the deficit in athletes relative to nonathletes persisted. Ongoing efforts of athletic trainers to educate athletes and guide them to mental health resources are needed to continue, or better yet to accelerate, the observed positive trends in information dissemination and treatment-seeking behavior.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.