Athlete mental health help-seeking: A systematic review and meta-analysis of rates, barriers and facilitators

Athletes are vulnerable to a range of mental health symptoms, in part due to stressors within the sport environment. An early intervention framework suggests the benefits of routine screening and referral for mental health, however, greater understanding around athlete help-seeking is needed to support referral uptake. This review examined rates of formal help-seeking behaviour as well as barriers and facilitators to help-seeking in sport settings. Relevant studies were retrieved from SportDiscus, PubMed and PsycInfo, with unpublished studies identified through contacting authors. Help-seeking rates were meta-analysed and barriers and facilitators were meta-synthesised. Twenty-two studies were included. Help-seeking rates were reported in 11 studies (N = 3415) and the pooled proportion of help-seeking was 22.4 % (95 % CI 16.2-30.2, I2 = 95.7 %). Barriers were reported in 13 studies and facilitators in six, highlighting a range of sporting-specific factors, such as stigma in relation to athlete identity and sport culture, fear of deselection, and concerns around confidentiality in sport settings, in addition to lack of awareness, low mental health literacy, and negative attitudes to services. Normalising experiences of mental health in sport settings, including through role models, was a key facilitator to help-seeking. Results provide implications for sport organisations to promote help-seeking and athlete mental health, such as through the use of role models, ensuring clarity around confidentiality, stigma reduction interventions, and fostering team cultures that promote mental health. Findings also support the value of sport staff in facilitating help-seeking, and organisational culture changes to foster wellbeing.

Treating mental stress in elite footballers using a stigma-free psychological approach: the Power Threat Meaning Framework

There are many pressures on elite footballers. They work in a meritocracy, where only the best are selected and play at the highest levels. From the moment they enter an academy to their retirement there is a fear of deselection and rejection. Elite players need to contend with criticisms from fans and via social media; team and management dynamics can be stressful. Fears of injury are major concerns. In addition, the players are likely to face everyday difficulties experienced by the rest of society, such as relationship, family and financial problems. There is a great deal of stigma associated with mental health problems in footballers, hence approaches are required that are destigmatising. This article presents two frameworks conceptualising stress in footballers: the Power Threat Meaning Framework, which describes stress in non-diagnostic terms; and the Yerkes–Dodson curve, which describes how stress can affect footballers’ mental and physical performances on the pitch. Both frameworks can combine to enable therapists to understand players’ distress and its impact and to guide towards appropriate treatments, as we show in a fictitious case study.