•  
  •  
 

EXAMINING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN A DIGITAL MENTAL HEALTH LITERACY PROGRAM AND STUDENT ATHLETE MENTAL HEALTH

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Student athletes experience unique stressors that increase their risk for mental health problems. These mental health concerns can lead to poor athletic performance and increase their risk factors for substance abuse, eating disorders, suicidal ideations, depression and anxiety. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, 22.3% of student athletes are at risk for depression, 12.5% are at risk for anxiety, and 8% are at risk for low self-esteem. Universities are prioritizing their student athletes' mental health through initiatives, such as pre-season mental health screenings and mental health literacy campaigns. Research is needed to understand how these campaigns influence mental health outcomes. The purpose of this study is to better understand the relationships between student athlete mental health outcomes and engagement with a digital mental health literacy platform. METHODS: During Spring 2024, all in-season athletes at a Southeastern university will receive the Sharpen AthleteTM and PerformeaXTM program. The program combines a peer-focus, mental health literacy program (Sharpen AthleteTM ) with computerized adaptive mental health screenings (PerformeaXTM). For eight-weeks, athletes will receive weekly mental health literacy content and a prompt to complete the screening via their mobile devices. The screenings will assess for suicidality (CAT-SS), depressive symptoms (CAT-DM), and anxiety symptoms (CAT-AX). Each screening will take about five minutes to complete. The Sharpen AthleteTM mental health literacy program content will include content tailored for athletes on how to cope, heal, thrive, and navigate various mental health related issues. For athletes who consent to sharing their data for research purposes, I will collect weekly Sharpen AthleteTM content engagement, measured as unique page views and mean time (mins) spent on a module. I will also collect the screening categories (i.e. low, intermediate, severe). Frequencies, means, and standard deviations will be used to describe the outcome variables by sport. Point Biserial Correlation will be used to examine the relationship between weekly Sharpen AthleteTM content engagement (unique page views and mean time spent in a module) and PerformeaXTM screening categories. ANTICIPATED RESULTS: It is hypothesized that there will be a correlation between Sharpen AthleteTM content engagement and mental health screening scores.

This document is currently not available here.

Share

COinS