Systematic Review: Mental Health Screening Tools for Collegiate Athletes
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33043/87x4a34dKeywords:
Sport Social Work, Sport psychology, College Athlete, Sport, Athlete wellbeingAbstract
The mental health of college athletes has become a priority for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and for athletic departments across numerous Colleges and Universities. Sport social work has limited research exploring empirical evidence on the use and effectiveness of specific mental health assessments for the population of college athletes. College athletes experience a plethora of stressors and mental health concerns that will require the use of mental health assessments to determine the appropriate level of care. A systematic review was conducted utilizing the Cochrane Handbook of Systematic Reviews for Interventions. An initial search of sport social work literature yielded 1,199 articles. After the application of inclusion and exclusion criteria, five articles remained that met the full criteria for inclusion. Results indicate there are mental health assessment tools that have empirical data supporting their use with college athletes. Although appropriate mental health screening tools were identified, future research is necessary to expand the breadth of empirical data that supports additional mental health assessment tools for specific use with the population of college athletes. These tools should include a positive psychology component to reduce the stigma surrounding mental health care in the college athlete population and increase their likeliness to engage in mental health services.
Downloads
References
American Psychiatric Association. (2000). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders
(4th ed.). American Psychiatric Publishing, Inc.
Bassuk, E. L., Murphy, C., Thompson Coupe, N., Kenney, R. R., & Beach, C. A. (2011).
America's youngest outcasts 2010: State report card on child homelessness. The National
Center for Family Homelessness.
Critical Appraisal Skills Program (CASP). (2022). CASP systematic review
checklist [Checklist]. Retrieved from Critical Appraisal Skills Program website:
https://casp-uk.net/casp-tools-checklists/
Cochrane Effective Practice and Organization of Care (EPOC). (2017). Data collection form
[Form]. Epoc.cochrane.org.
Donohue, B., Gavrilova, Y., Galante, M., Gavrilova, E., Loughran, T., Scott, J., Chow, G., Plant,
C. P., & Allen, D. N. (2018). Controlled evaluation of optimization approach to mental
health and sport performance. Journal of Clinical Sport Psychology, 12, 234–267.
https://doi.org/10.1123/jcsp.2017-0054
Donohue, B., Galante, M., Maietta, J., Lee, B., Paul, N., Perry, J. E., Corey, A., & Allen, D. N.
(2019). Empirical development of a screening method to assist mental health referrals in
collegiate athletes. Journal of Clinical Sport Psychology, 13(4), 561–579.
Donohue, B., Scott, J., Goodwin, G., Barchard, K. A., Bohall, G., & Allen, D. N. (2023). Initial
examination of the mental health disorders: Screening instrument for athletes. Frontiers
in Psychology, 14. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1029229
Edwards C. D. (2021). Depression assessment: Challenges and treatment strategies in the athlete.
The Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 44(3), 381–392.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psc.2021.04.011
Eisinga, R., Grotenhuis, M.t, & Pelzer, B. (2013). The reliability of a two-item scale: Pearson,
Cronbach, or Spearman-Brown? International Journal of Public Health, 58(4), 637–642.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00038-012-0416-3
Garner, A. S., Shonkoff, J. P., Committee on Psychosocial Aspects of Child and Family Health,
Committee on Early Childhood, Adoption, and Dependent Care, & Section on
Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics (2012). Early childhood adversity, toxic stress,
and the role of the pediatrician: Translating developmental science into lifelong
health. Pediatrics, 129(1), e224-e231. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2011-2662
Glick, I. D., Stillman, M. A., & McDuff, D. (2020). Update on integrative treatment of
psychiatric symptoms and disorders in athletes. The Physician and Sports
Medicine, 48(4), 385-391. https://doi.org/10.1080/00913847.2020.1757370
Gould, B. (2002). Stress and the developing brain. Head Start Bulletin, 73, 10-12.
Hilliard, R. C., Watson, J. C., & Zizzi, S. J. (2022). Stigma, attitudes, and intentions to seek
mental health services in college student-athletes. Journal of American College
Health, 70(5), 1476–1485. https://doi.org/10.1080/07448481.2020.1806851
Hodgkinson, S., Godoy, L., Beers, L. S., & Lewin, A. (2017). Improving mental health access
for low-income children and families in the primary care setting. Pediatrics, 139(1).
https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2015-1175
Kroenke, K., Spitzer, R. L., Williams, J. B., Monahan, P. O., & Löwe, B. (2007). Anxiety
disorders in primary care: Prevalence, impairment, comorbidity, and detection. Annals of
Internal Medicine, 146(5), 317–325.
Kroshus, E. (2016). Variability in institutional screening practices related to collegiate student
athlete mental health. Journal of Athletic Training, 51, 389–397
https://doi.org/10.4085/10626050-51.5.07
Lockwood, C., Munn, Z., & Porritt, K. (2015). Qualitative research synthesis: Methodological
guidance for systematic reviewers utilizing meta-aggregation. International journal of
Evidence Based Healthcare, 13(3), 179–187. https://doi.org/10.1097/XEB.0000000000000062
LoGalbo, A., DaCosta, A., & Webbe, F. (2022). Comparison of the PHQ9 and ImPACT
symptom cluster scores in measuring depression among college athletes. Applied
Neuropsychology Adult, 29(4), 703–709.
https://doi.org/10.1080/23279095.2020.1805611
Matto, H.C., Strolin-Goltzman, J., & Ballan, M.S. (Eds.). (2014). Neuroscience for social work:
Current research and practice. Springer Publishing Company.
Mokkink, L. B., Terwee, C. B., Patrick, D. L., Alonso, J., Stratford, P. W., Knol, D. L., ... & de
Vet, H. C. W. (2010). The COSMIN checklist for assessing the methodological quality of
studies on measurement properties of health status measurement instruments: An
international Delphi study. Quality of Life Research, 19(4), 539-549.
Moore M. A. (2016). Taking a timeout to ensure well-being: Social work involvement in college
sports. Social Work, 61(3), 267–269. https://doi.org/10.1093/sw/sww020
Moore, M., Gorczynski, P., Aron, C., & Bennett, P. (2022). Leaving professional competition on
the field: Professional collaboration in promoting college athlete mental health. Frontiers
in Psychiatry, 13, 1079057. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.1079057
National Institute of Mental Health. (2019). Major depression.
https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/major-depression.shtml
National Scientific Council on the Developing Child (NSCDC). (2009a). Excessive stress
disrupts the architecture of the developing brain (Working Paper 3). Cambridge, MA:
Center on the Developing Child, Harvard University.
National Scientific Council on the Developing Child (NSCDC). (2009b). Persistent fear and
anxiety can affect young children's learning and development (Working Paper 9).
Cambridge, MA: Center on the Developing Child, Harvard University.
NCAA. (2021). NCAA student-athlete well-being study (Fall 2020). NCAA
Research. https://www.ncaa.org/about/resources/research/ncaa-student-athlete-wellbeing
study
NCAA Sport Science Institute and the NCAA. (2020, January). Mental health best practices:
Inter-association consensus document: Best practices for understanding and supporting
Student athlete mental wellness. NCAA sports science institute.
https://ncaaorg.s3.amazonaws.com/ssi/mental/SSI_MentalHealthBestPractices.pdf
Newman, T. J., Turgeon, S., Moore, M., Bean, C., Lee, L., Knuettel, M., & Rahill, C. O. (2022).
The dual pandemic: Covid-19, systemic racism, and college student-athletic mental
health. International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology.
https://doi.org/10.1080/1612197X.2022.2026997
Ohio University (2021, September 7). Identifying mental health concerns in high school athletes.
Ohio University.
https://onlinemasters.ohio.edu/blog/identifying-mental-health-concerns-in-high-school-athletes/
Reardon, C. L., & Factor, R. M. (2010). Sport psychiatry: A systematic review of diagnosis and
medical treatment of mental illness in athletes. Sports Medicine, 40(11), 961-980.
Segerstrom, S. C., & Miller, G. E. (2004). Psychological stress and the human immune system:
A meta-analytic study of 30 years of inquiry. Psychological Bulletin, 130(4), 601-630.
Si, G., Li, X., Huang, Z., Wang, D., Wang, Y., Liu, J., Liu, H., Zhao, D., Bu, D., & Zhang, C.
(2021). The mental health of Chinese elite athletes: Revisiting the assessment methods
and introducing a management framework. International Journal of Sport and Exercise
Psychology, 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1080/1612197X.2021.1907769
Siegel, B. S., Dobbins, M. I., Earls, M. F., Garner, A. S., McGuinn, L., Pascoe, J., & Wood, D.
L. (2012). The lifelong effects of early childhood adversity and toxic stress. Pediatrics,
(1), 232-246.
Spitzer, R. L., Kroenke, K., Williams, J. B., & Löwe, B. (2006). A brief measure for assessing
generalized anxiety disorder: The GAD-7. Archives of Internal Medicine, 166(10), 1092
-1097. https://doi.org/10.1001/archinte.166.10.1092
Staurowsky, E. (2011). Study college athletes worth six figures live below the federal poverty
line. Drexel Now.
Stovold, E., Beecher, D., Foxlee, R. & Noel-Starr, A. (2014). Study flow diagrams in Cochrane
systematic review updates: An adapted PRISMA flow diagram, Systematic Reviews, 3(54). https://doi.org/10.1186/2046-4053-3-54
Sudano, L. E., & Miles, C. M. (2017). Mental health services in NCAA division I athletics: A
survey of head ATCs. Sports Health, 9(3), 262–267. https://doi.org/10.1177/1941738116679127
Taylor, D. J., Huskey, A., Kim, K. N., Emert, S. E., Wardle-Pinkston, S., Auerbach, A., Ruiz, J.
M., Grandner, M. A., Webb, R., Skog, M., Milord, T., & Pac-12 Mental Health Coordinating Unit (2023). Internal consistency reliability of mental health questionnaires in college student athletes. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 57(10), 595–601.
https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports2021-105136
Terwee, C. B., Bot, S. D., de Boer, M. R., van der Windt, D. A., Knol, D. L., Dekker, J., ... & de
Vet, H. C. (2012). Quality criteria were proposed for measurement properties of health
Status questionnaires. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, 60(1), 34-42.
Tran, A. G. (2020). Using the GAD-7 and GAD-2 generalized anxiety disorder screeners with
student-athletes: Empirical and clinical perspectives. The Sport Psychologist, 34(4), 300
-309. https://doi.org/10.1123/tsp.2020-0028
Watson, J. C., & Kissinger, D. B. (2007). Improving the mental health of college student
athletes: Psychometric validation of the Behavioral Health Measure for Athletes. Journal
of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 29(4), 479-497.
Weng, L. (2004). Impact of the number of response categories and anchor labels on coefficient
alpha and test-retest reliability. Education Psychology Measures, 64, 956–972. doi:
1177/0013164404268674
World Health Organization. (2004). Promoting mental health: Concepts, emerging evidence,
practice (Summary Report). Geneva: WHO.
https://www.who.int/mental_health/evidence/en/promoting_mhh.pdf
Yang, J., Peek-Asa, C., Corlette, J. D., Cheng, G., Foster, D. T., & Albright, J. (2007).
Prevalence of and risk factors associated with symptoms of depression in competitive
collegiate student athletes. Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine, 17(6), 481-487.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Jasmine Cohen-Young
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
