Prevalence and correlates of sleep problems with mental health and perceived stress in Iranian adolescent athletes

Abstract Adolescent athletes often face challenges that impact their mental health and sleep quality, including the need to adjust to irregular training schedules, intense training, and competitive pressures. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the prevalence of sleep and mental health...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Ebrahim Norouzi, Bardia Shojaei
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2025-07-01
Series:BMC Psychology
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-025-03118-9
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849760893871587328
author Ebrahim Norouzi
Bardia Shojaei
author_facet Ebrahim Norouzi
Bardia Shojaei
author_sort Ebrahim Norouzi
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Adolescent athletes often face challenges that impact their mental health and sleep quality, including the need to adjust to irregular training schedules, intense training, and competitive pressures. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the prevalence of sleep and mental health problems and their relationships with perceived stress in Iranian adolescent athletes. The research design was a cross-sectional study. Adolescent athletes (N = 579, aged 13 to 18 years) were selected from eight different team and individual sports, including wrestling, basketball, volleyball, karate, futsal, handball, and football. Three scales were used to collect data: the Cohen Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-14), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and General Health Questionnaire-28 (GHQ-28). The results showed high levels of sleep disturbance (54.2%), mental health problems (54.7%), and perceived stress (48.7%). The results also showed significant positive correlations between perceived stress and mental health symptoms (r = 0.35) and between sleep disturbance and mental health symptoms (r = 0.39). These findings suggest an association between sleep quality, perceived stress, and mental health in adolescent athletes.
format Article
id doaj-art-326a9dddfd5a4c39a5c41e2f8ee19560
institution DOAJ
issn 2050-7283
language English
publishDate 2025-07-01
publisher BMC
record_format Article
series BMC Psychology
spelling doaj-art-326a9dddfd5a4c39a5c41e2f8ee195602025-08-20T03:06:13ZengBMCBMC Psychology2050-72832025-07-011311710.1186/s40359-025-03118-9Prevalence and correlates of sleep problems with mental health and perceived stress in Iranian adolescent athletesEbrahim Norouzi0Bardia Shojaei1Department of Physical Education, Farhangian UniversityDepartment of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, University of EyvanakeyAbstract Adolescent athletes often face challenges that impact their mental health and sleep quality, including the need to adjust to irregular training schedules, intense training, and competitive pressures. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the prevalence of sleep and mental health problems and their relationships with perceived stress in Iranian adolescent athletes. The research design was a cross-sectional study. Adolescent athletes (N = 579, aged 13 to 18 years) were selected from eight different team and individual sports, including wrestling, basketball, volleyball, karate, futsal, handball, and football. Three scales were used to collect data: the Cohen Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-14), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and General Health Questionnaire-28 (GHQ-28). The results showed high levels of sleep disturbance (54.2%), mental health problems (54.7%), and perceived stress (48.7%). The results also showed significant positive correlations between perceived stress and mental health symptoms (r = 0.35) and between sleep disturbance and mental health symptoms (r = 0.39). These findings suggest an association between sleep quality, perceived stress, and mental health in adolescent athletes.https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-025-03118-9Adolescent athletesSleepPerceived stressAnxietyDepression
spellingShingle Ebrahim Norouzi
Bardia Shojaei
Prevalence and correlates of sleep problems with mental health and perceived stress in Iranian adolescent athletes
BMC Psychology
Adolescent athletes
Sleep
Perceived stress
Anxiety
Depression
title Prevalence and correlates of sleep problems with mental health and perceived stress in Iranian adolescent athletes
title_full Prevalence and correlates of sleep problems with mental health and perceived stress in Iranian adolescent athletes
title_fullStr Prevalence and correlates of sleep problems with mental health and perceived stress in Iranian adolescent athletes
title_full_unstemmed Prevalence and correlates of sleep problems with mental health and perceived stress in Iranian adolescent athletes
title_short Prevalence and correlates of sleep problems with mental health and perceived stress in Iranian adolescent athletes
title_sort prevalence and correlates of sleep problems with mental health and perceived stress in iranian adolescent athletes
topic Adolescent athletes
Sleep
Perceived stress
Anxiety
Depression
url https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-025-03118-9
work_keys_str_mv AT ebrahimnorouzi prevalenceandcorrelatesofsleepproblemswithmentalhealthandperceivedstressiniranianadolescentathletes
AT bardiashojaei prevalenceandcorrelatesofsleepproblemswithmentalhealthandperceivedstressiniranianadolescentathletes