Barriers to and Facilitators of Collegiate Athletes Seeking Mental Health Services

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.