The relationships between role strain, mental toughness and mental health amongst adolescent athletes

Objective: Adolescent athletes are required to manage numerous roles to succeed. This study examined the association of role strain and mental health symptomology and the potential mediating role of mental toughness. In addition, the role of gender and sport type was examined. Method: 128 Adolescent...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Joshua Morrison, Tristan J. Coulter, Remco Polman
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: KeAi Communications Co., Ltd. 2024-03-01
Series:Advanced Exercise and Health Science
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2950273X24000079
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849690764813008896
author Joshua Morrison
Tristan J. Coulter
Remco Polman
author_facet Joshua Morrison
Tristan J. Coulter
Remco Polman
author_sort Joshua Morrison
collection DOAJ
description Objective: Adolescent athletes are required to manage numerous roles to succeed. This study examined the association of role strain and mental health symptomology and the potential mediating role of mental toughness. In addition, the role of gender and sport type was examined. Method: 128 Adolescent athletes (males = 40; females = 88; mean age = 18.34 years; SD = 2.20) from diverse sports in Australia completed an online survey (Qualtrics) which included demographic information, the Role Strain Questionnaire for Junior Athletes (RSQ-JA), Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21) and Very Short Mental Toughness Questionnaire (VS-MTQ). Results: Regression analysis showed that role strain (ambiguity) explained 31% of the variance in depression, 27.2% in anxiety (ambiguity, underload) and 30.5% of stress (overload, ambiguity). Mediation analysis showed that mental toughness did not mediate the association between role strain and mental health symptomology. However, higher levels of mental toughness was associated with decreased depression, anxiety and stress symptomology. There were no associations for gender and sport type with role strain or mental health except for stress, with females reporting higher levels (mean 19.67, SD = 9.05 for females and 15.21, SD = 8.36 for males, p = 0.01) with a small effect size. Conclusion: Role strain and mental toughness both influence mental health symptomology. This allows for the development of interventions which can reduce role strain or enhance mental toughness in adolescent athletes to improve their mental wellbeing.
format Article
id doaj-art-8ee0fc323a5a4d3eb0889de007e14cd9
institution DOAJ
issn 2950-273X
language English
publishDate 2024-03-01
publisher KeAi Communications Co., Ltd.
record_format Article
series Advanced Exercise and Health Science
spelling doaj-art-8ee0fc323a5a4d3eb0889de007e14cd92025-08-20T03:21:12ZengKeAi Communications Co., Ltd.Advanced Exercise and Health Science2950-273X2024-03-0111596610.1016/j.aehs.2024.01.007The relationships between role strain, mental toughness and mental health amongst adolescent athletesJoshua Morrison0Tristan J. Coulter1Remco Polman2Faculty of Health, School of Psychology and Behavioural Science, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, AustraliaFaculty of Health, School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, AustraliaInstitute of Health and Wellbeing, Federation University, Berwick, Australia; Corresponding author.Objective: Adolescent athletes are required to manage numerous roles to succeed. This study examined the association of role strain and mental health symptomology and the potential mediating role of mental toughness. In addition, the role of gender and sport type was examined. Method: 128 Adolescent athletes (males = 40; females = 88; mean age = 18.34 years; SD = 2.20) from diverse sports in Australia completed an online survey (Qualtrics) which included demographic information, the Role Strain Questionnaire for Junior Athletes (RSQ-JA), Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21) and Very Short Mental Toughness Questionnaire (VS-MTQ). Results: Regression analysis showed that role strain (ambiguity) explained 31% of the variance in depression, 27.2% in anxiety (ambiguity, underload) and 30.5% of stress (overload, ambiguity). Mediation analysis showed that mental toughness did not mediate the association between role strain and mental health symptomology. However, higher levels of mental toughness was associated with decreased depression, anxiety and stress symptomology. There were no associations for gender and sport type with role strain or mental health except for stress, with females reporting higher levels (mean 19.67, SD = 9.05 for females and 15.21, SD = 8.36 for males, p = 0.01) with a small effect size. Conclusion: Role strain and mental toughness both influence mental health symptomology. This allows for the development of interventions which can reduce role strain or enhance mental toughness in adolescent athletes to improve their mental wellbeing.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2950273X24000079SportDepressionAnxietyStressAdolescence
spellingShingle Joshua Morrison
Tristan J. Coulter
Remco Polman
The relationships between role strain, mental toughness and mental health amongst adolescent athletes
Advanced Exercise and Health Science
Sport
Depression
Anxiety
Stress
Adolescence
title The relationships between role strain, mental toughness and mental health amongst adolescent athletes
title_full The relationships between role strain, mental toughness and mental health amongst adolescent athletes
title_fullStr The relationships between role strain, mental toughness and mental health amongst adolescent athletes
title_full_unstemmed The relationships between role strain, mental toughness and mental health amongst adolescent athletes
title_short The relationships between role strain, mental toughness and mental health amongst adolescent athletes
title_sort relationships between role strain mental toughness and mental health amongst adolescent athletes
topic Sport
Depression
Anxiety
Stress
Adolescence
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2950273X24000079
work_keys_str_mv AT joshuamorrison therelationshipsbetweenrolestrainmentaltoughnessandmentalhealthamongstadolescentathletes
AT tristanjcoulter therelationshipsbetweenrolestrainmentaltoughnessandmentalhealthamongstadolescentathletes
AT remcopolman therelationshipsbetweenrolestrainmentaltoughnessandmentalhealthamongstadolescentathletes
AT joshuamorrison relationshipsbetweenrolestrainmentaltoughnessandmentalhealthamongstadolescentathletes
AT tristanjcoulter relationshipsbetweenrolestrainmentaltoughnessandmentalhealthamongstadolescentathletes
AT remcopolman relationshipsbetweenrolestrainmentaltoughnessandmentalhealthamongstadolescentathletes