Prevalence and Factors Associated with Mental Health Complaints in Japanese Collegiate Athletes

Investigations into mental health epidemiology in various cultural contexts were one of the main recommendations by the recent consensus statement on mental health in athletes, but the evidence in different sporting populations is rising slowly. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of ment...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Takeshi Kimura, Aleksandra Mącznik, Akira Kinoda, Yuichi Yamada, Yuki Muramoto, Yoshinori Katsumata, Kazuki Sato
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2024-09-01
Series:Sports
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4663/12/9/240
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850259351013425152
author Takeshi Kimura
Aleksandra Mącznik
Akira Kinoda
Yuichi Yamada
Yuki Muramoto
Yoshinori Katsumata
Kazuki Sato
author_facet Takeshi Kimura
Aleksandra Mącznik
Akira Kinoda
Yuichi Yamada
Yuki Muramoto
Yoshinori Katsumata
Kazuki Sato
author_sort Takeshi Kimura
collection DOAJ
description Investigations into mental health epidemiology in various cultural contexts were one of the main recommendations by the recent consensus statement on mental health in athletes, but the evidence in different sporting populations is rising slowly. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of mental health complaints in Japanese collegiate athletes. The online survey was sent to the Japanese collegiate athletes associated with UNIVAS asking about the mental health complaints experienced during their sporting careers. Out of 10,999 athletes, 269 (2.4%) reported at least one complaint. Mental health complaints were more prevalent in female (3.6%) than male (1.5%) athletes. Skill sports had the highest prevalence (4.1%) of mental health complaints, and power sports had the lowest prevalence (1.5%) of mental health complaints. This study found a very low prevalence of self-reported mental health complaints in Japanese collegiate athletes. Preventive efforts should focus on monitoring early symptoms (rather than diagnoses), especially in skill sports and female athletes. Anxiety (38%) and depression (35%) were the most reported complaints and should be targeted first.
format Article
id doaj-art-9c8198b3fc124aa9964c79517c267aa8
institution OA Journals
issn 2075-4663
language English
publishDate 2024-09-01
publisher MDPI AG
record_format Article
series Sports
spelling doaj-art-9c8198b3fc124aa9964c79517c267aa82025-08-20T01:55:52ZengMDPI AGSports2075-46632024-09-0112924010.3390/sports12090240Prevalence and Factors Associated with Mental Health Complaints in Japanese Collegiate AthletesTakeshi Kimura0Aleksandra Mącznik1Akira Kinoda2Yuichi Yamada3Yuki Muramoto4Yoshinori Katsumata5Kazuki Sato6Institute for Integrated Sports Medicine, School of Medicine, Keio University, 35 Shinanomachi Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160-8582, JapanInstitute for Integrated Sports Medicine, School of Medicine, Keio University, 35 Shinanomachi Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160-8582, JapanInstitute for Integrated Sports Medicine, School of Medicine, Keio University, 35 Shinanomachi Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160-8582, JapanInstitute for Integrated Sports Medicine, School of Medicine, Keio University, 35 Shinanomachi Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160-8582, JapanInstitute for Integrated Sports Medicine, School of Medicine, Keio University, 35 Shinanomachi Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160-8582, JapanInstitute for Integrated Sports Medicine, School of Medicine, Keio University, 35 Shinanomachi Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160-8582, JapanInstitute for Integrated Sports Medicine, School of Medicine, Keio University, 35 Shinanomachi Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160-8582, JapanInvestigations into mental health epidemiology in various cultural contexts were one of the main recommendations by the recent consensus statement on mental health in athletes, but the evidence in different sporting populations is rising slowly. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of mental health complaints in Japanese collegiate athletes. The online survey was sent to the Japanese collegiate athletes associated with UNIVAS asking about the mental health complaints experienced during their sporting careers. Out of 10,999 athletes, 269 (2.4%) reported at least one complaint. Mental health complaints were more prevalent in female (3.6%) than male (1.5%) athletes. Skill sports had the highest prevalence (4.1%) of mental health complaints, and power sports had the lowest prevalence (1.5%) of mental health complaints. This study found a very low prevalence of self-reported mental health complaints in Japanese collegiate athletes. Preventive efforts should focus on monitoring early symptoms (rather than diagnoses), especially in skill sports and female athletes. Anxiety (38%) and depression (35%) were the most reported complaints and should be targeted first.https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4663/12/9/240mental healthcollegiate athletesurveillanceepidemiology
spellingShingle Takeshi Kimura
Aleksandra Mącznik
Akira Kinoda
Yuichi Yamada
Yuki Muramoto
Yoshinori Katsumata
Kazuki Sato
Prevalence and Factors Associated with Mental Health Complaints in Japanese Collegiate Athletes
Sports
mental health
collegiate athlete
surveillance
epidemiology
title Prevalence and Factors Associated with Mental Health Complaints in Japanese Collegiate Athletes
title_full Prevalence and Factors Associated with Mental Health Complaints in Japanese Collegiate Athletes
title_fullStr Prevalence and Factors Associated with Mental Health Complaints in Japanese Collegiate Athletes
title_full_unstemmed Prevalence and Factors Associated with Mental Health Complaints in Japanese Collegiate Athletes
title_short Prevalence and Factors Associated with Mental Health Complaints in Japanese Collegiate Athletes
title_sort prevalence and factors associated with mental health complaints in japanese collegiate athletes
topic mental health
collegiate athlete
surveillance
epidemiology
url https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4663/12/9/240
work_keys_str_mv AT takeshikimura prevalenceandfactorsassociatedwithmentalhealthcomplaintsinjapanesecollegiateathletes
AT aleksandramacznik prevalenceandfactorsassociatedwithmentalhealthcomplaintsinjapanesecollegiateathletes
AT akirakinoda prevalenceandfactorsassociatedwithmentalhealthcomplaintsinjapanesecollegiateathletes
AT yuichiyamada prevalenceandfactorsassociatedwithmentalhealthcomplaintsinjapanesecollegiateathletes
AT yukimuramoto prevalenceandfactorsassociatedwithmentalhealthcomplaintsinjapanesecollegiateathletes
AT yoshinorikatsumata prevalenceandfactorsassociatedwithmentalhealthcomplaintsinjapanesecollegiateathletes
AT kazukisato prevalenceandfactorsassociatedwithmentalhealthcomplaintsinjapanesecollegiateathletes