ArticleBMJ open sport & exercise medicine2024
Prevalence of anxiety and depression in former elite athletes: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Article in BMJ open sport & exercise medicine, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers.
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Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed.
- Ultra-processed Foods and Athletes: Current Insights on Classification, Use, Awareness, and Impact-A Narrative Review.Sports medicine - open · 2026Review
- The Legacy of Olympic Sport: A Cross-Sectional Comparison of the Musculoskeletal and General Health of 1488 Retired Female Summer and Winter Olympians and 998 Female General Population Controls.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2026Article
- Eating disorders and associated mental symptoms in Swedish elite athletes and a comparison group.Discover mental health · 2026Article
- Sustainable Athletes' Career Pathways and Mental Health Support: An Integrative Umbrella Review.Sports (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Mental health in elite and youth athletes: emerging strategies and evidence-based trends: a narrative review.Annals of medicine and surgery (2012) · 2026Review
- From screen to field: the impact of digital sports participation on leisure time satisfaction.BMC sports science, medicine & rehabilitation · 2026Article
- Associations of self-compassion and resilience with help-seeking among Chinese athletes: the mediating role of self-stigma and sex differences.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Exploring the interrelationships between athlete burnout, depression, and anxiety: a network analysis approach.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Beyond the game: athletic identity and post-retirement adaptation of former Major League Baseball players.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Longitudinal association between perceived stress and depressive symptoms among student-athletes: the mediating roles of positive reframing and behavioral disengagement and moderating role of stress mindset.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Interplay between sex, age, BMI, health-related quality of life, and coping strategies in amateur and professional athletes.Frontiers in physiology · 2025Article
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Authors and funding
2 authors.
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Abstract
Objectives: To summarise the evidence regarding the prevalence of anxiety and depression in former elite athletes compared with the general population. Design: Systematic review and meta-analysis.CRD42022347359. Data sources: Five electronic databases (Web of Science, PubMed, MEDLINE, Scopus and SPORTDiscus) were searched from 1970 to 2023. Eligibility criteria: Studies were included in the meta-analysis if they: (1) were written in English; (2) included male or female elite athletes that had been retired ≥1 year; (3) included a control group Results: 37 unique studies including 24 732 former athletes (2% female) were included in the meta-analysis. The time-point prevalence of anxiety (prevalence ratio (PR): 2.08 (95% CI 1.57 to 2.60)) and depression (PR: 2.58 (95% CI 2.04 to 3.12)) in former athletes was over twice that of the general population. Subgroup analyses revealed former American football players and jockeys had the highest time-point prevalence of both anxiety and depression (PR: 2.24-2.88), whereas the time-point prevalence of depression and anxiety was not significantly different to the general population for former rugby players (PR: 1.13-1.30). Conclusion: Our meta-analyses demonstrated the time-point prevalence of anxiety and depression in former elite athletes could be over twice that of the general population, with sport-specific differences evident. PROSPERO registration number: CRD42022347359.
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