Psychological Health and Well-being in Sport - Part 1

Question 1

Sport/Exercise/PA &
Psychological Well-Being

Mental health

Answer 1

Physical activity has been positively associated with
good mental health

• Some evidence for cause-effect relationship

• But most evidence is correlational

-A lot of the research is correlation at, correlation does not equal causation,

Question 2

Sport/Exercise/PA &
Psychological Well-Being

Help Manage

Answer 2

• Prevalence of depression and anxiety disorders (and
other mental health issues)
• May help to manage

PA helps prevents against obesity, has protective affect on mental health and as a result it reduced cost in the health care system

Question 3

Sport/Exercise/PA &
Psychological Well-Being

Emotions

Answer 3

• Promotion of positive affective states

Question 4

Sport/Exercise/PA &
Psychological Well-Being

Research

Answer 4

• Many studies are correlational; therefore the research
can say that exercise is related to wellbeing, but
cannot state it causes well-being
- Appropriate study designs are required to make causal
claims

• However, research does suggest that exercise seems to be associated with positive changes in mood states and reductions in anxiety and depression

Question 5

Sport/Exercise/PA &
Psychological Well-Being

• Even causal pre-post designs have limitations

Answer 5

• Need to also consider what is happening during exercise

• It is a complex issue.

Affect can change, during the exercise we might not enjoy it as much, but after may be different

Affect during exercise is just as important as after the exercise

Question 6

There is evidence that physical activity has a positive impact on mental health and well-being, and can play an integral role in the treatment of many mental health issues.

Answer 6

• However, this does not mean that athletes are immune to mental health issues.

• In reality, athletes may face unique stressors: psychological and physical demands of training and competition, injuries,
time commitment to their sport, social difficulties with teammates and/or coaches, operating in a high pressure
environment, poor performances, performance plateau.

Question 7

Demands
• Athletes face a variety of demands in the sport context:

Answer 7

• Selection / deselection

• Pressure from team / coach / parent / self
-High pressure environment

• Injury

• Life direction concerns

• Identity and self-worth tied to performance as an athlete

• Body image concerns

• Psychological and physical demands of training and competition

• Time commitment to their sport

• Social difficulties with teammates and/or coaches

• Poor performances

• Performance plateau

Athletes also must manage non-sport / life demands.

Some athletes also manage clinical and nonclinical psychological conditions.

Question 8

Athletes are not immune to psychological concerns. It is essential that athletes are supported.

Answer 8

And coaches and support team members, and officials

Question 9

• A problem in this area is that athletes (as well as non-athletes) do not always seek or get the support they need to manage their mental health.

Answer 9

• Early identification and intervention for mental health problems is important

• less disruption to an athlete’s life and quicker recovery.

Allot of emphasis involve around proactive: teaching strategies to manage stress, up spilling coaches to identify early signs,

Reactive: helping athletes needing urgent care

• While sport and exercise has benefits, there can be
negative elements as well.

Question 10

Mental Health in Sport
• Increased attention in recent times

Answer 10

• Media (coverage)

• Athletes sharing their experiences (speaking, writing autobiographies)

• Mental health campaigns (Increase awareness in the area)

• Research

Question 11

Athletes sharing there experience

Answer 11

Athletes sharing there experience helps break stigma, people feel less alone, taht connection and less isolated. In that people feel like they ain’t the only ones, more focuse in providing resources and service.

Question 12

Mental Health

Answer 12

“a state of well-being in which the individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stressors of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her
community”

• Mental health is not merely the absence of disease, it is much more nuanced.

Question 13

• Mental health or mental illness is not something thatathletes simply have or do not have.

Answer 13

Not present or absent , it is on a continuum

Question 14

Keyes’ (2002) Two Continuum Model

Answer 14

Psychological Health and Well-being in Sport - Part 1

Slide 15 and 16

Question 15

Criticisms of the Two Continuum Model

Answer 15

• The concepts make sense, but the language may be problematic, particularly for athletes

-Language
-Value
-Normalizing

Question 16

Criticisms of the Two Continuum Model

Language

Answer 16

Language around mental “illness” may be stigmatizing

Some times people equates to individual not being able to perform at a capacity, if it’s well supported it does not need to be like that

Based around the medical model

Question 17

Criticisms of the Two Continuum Model

Value

Answer 17

• Value in the perspective

• Perhaps shift the semantics

• Mental illness = distress

• Normalizing the continuum, and how everyone falls somewhere on it.
• And that people’s positioning on that continuum can move and
change

Question 18

Criticisms of the Two Continuum Model

• Using terms of “mental health”

Answer 18

• Using terms of “mental health” can capture both distressing and
flourishing conditions, and still recognizes that strategies designed
to manage distressing symptoms might be different than those used
to promote flourishing .

Question 19

Avoid the binary labels.

Answer 19

Mental health is not some thing we have and don’t have it a continuum

As well as mental illness

Question 20

Six dimensions that make up
psychological wellbeing

Answer 20

1. Self-acceptance
2. Positive relations with others
3. Autonomy
4. Environmental mastery
5. Personal growth
6. Purpose in life

Question 21

How would you explain psychological
health and well-being to a group of
athletes?

Answer 21

Just cuz someone doesn’t have a mental health problem doesn’t mean they don’t struggle with thier mental health.

Question 22

Myths about mental health

Answer 22

Myth

-Often seen as binary

-People only think of mental illness

-people with mental illness can’t have good mental health

-that if your asking for help your weak

Question 23

Research: Mental Health and Athletes
We’ll focus on two themes:

Answer 23

1. Prevalence
2. Barriers and facilitators to help-seeking

Question 24

Research: Mental Health and Athletes
We’ll focus on two themes: Prevalence

Answer 24

• Definitions of mental health and emphasis vary

• Take home point is that mental health concerns/problems exist among athletes

• Performance anxiety
• Eating disorders
• Substance abuse (drug use, binge drinking, etc)
• Depression
• Gambling addiction

• Similar concerns in athlete and non-athlete samples

• Some evidence to suggest some issues are more prevalent in athletes (depends on focus/emphasis).

Question 25

Paper on Australian Elite athletes

Answer 25

46.4% of Australian
athletes were experiencing symptoms connected to
at least one mental health
problem.

Question 26

Research: Mental Health and Athletes
We’ll focus on two themes: Barriers and Facilitators

Answer 26

Athletes are less likely to seek care for mental health
issues than non-athletes (Neal et al., 2013, 2015)
• Most research has focused on attitudes (rather than behaviour because it’s easier to mention)

• Consider unique elements:
• Student-athletes (Have access to mental health resources because they are student athletes )
• IST
• Available resources

Question 27

Mental health: Barriers to Seeking Support

Starred one’s

Answer 27

• Stigma * (Greatest perceived stigma: scared to known as that guy)

• Lack of problem awareness *

• Difficulty in or not wanting to express emotion *

• Lack of time *

Question 28

Facilitators to Seeking Support

Starred one’s

Answer 28

• Education and awareness of mental health issues and / or services *

• Social support * (People who advocate for mental health)

• Encouragement from others *

• Accessibility (e.g., money, location) * (Has gone way up after Covid more therapists offering there services over online )

Question 29

How can we create a sport
environment that promotes
good mental health?

Answer 29

Get to know the people you coaching Open communication model
Programming days which will help mental health
No one Always has good notes

Question 30

More Facilitators to Seeking Support

Answer 30

• Confidentiality ( Times when confidentiality is broken - Harming oneself, when someone is at harm, child or elder abuse

• Time

• Integration into athlete life

• Positive past experiences

• Ease of expressing emotion and openness

• Positive relationship with service staff

Question 31

More Mental health: Barriers to Seeking Support

Answer 31

• Poor mental health literacy

• Denial of problem

• No sure who to ask for help

• Fear of what might happen

• Worried about impact on ability to train/play

• Belief that it won’t help

• Not accessible