Nearly three-quarters of top Dutch athletes and 40 percent of their coaches report sports-related stress, according to one of the findings of a study conducted by Amsterdam UMC in collaboration with the Dutch Olympic Committee and NOC*NSF, the organization representing Dutch sports federations, and published today in the journal BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine.
The most common mental health issue among athletes and coaches is sports-related stress (73% and 41%, respectively). Inappropriate alcohol use, which can negatively affect sports performance, is also common (52% and 53%). For athletes, there is also an association between mental health issues and life events or serious injuries.
These results are comparable to the mental health of non-athletes and are in line with similar studies of top athletes around the world. Although these rates are high, these are self-reported complaints and not diagnosed serious mental disorders. Nevertheless, sports physicians and other supervisors should pay more attention to the psychological health of top athletes. In this way, mental problems in athletes can be identified at an early stage and appropriate support can be provided in a timely manner.”
Vincent Guttebarge, Distinguished Professor of Sports Medicine at the University of Amsterdam Medical College and the University of Pretoria
156 athletes and 95 coaches completed an anonymous survey about their mental health. They were also asked about factors that may affect an athlete’s mental state, such as injuries or surgeries, performance issues, and life adversities. Among elite athletes, there were significant associations between recent life events and anxiety, depression, sleep disorders, inappropriate alcohol use, and eating disorders. The researchers also found significant associations between serious injuries and anxiety and sleep disorders in athletes. These relationships were not found in the group of coaches.
To identify mental problems in athletes early, the researchers recommend that sports physicians use the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) Sports Mental Health Assessment Tool1 before a sports season. “It is a tool that screens elite athletes for mental health symptoms. This allows early identification of athletes who are at risk of mental health problems or who already suffer from mental health issues. Sports physicians can then provide appropriate support, treatment and referrals,” adds Gino Kerkhofs, Director of the Academic Centre for Evidence-Based Sports Medicine at Amsterdam UMC.
sauce:
Amsterdam University Medical Center
Journal References:
Bilgoe, SC, et al. (2024). Mental health symptoms in Dutch elite athletes and their coaches: a cross-sectional study. BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine. doi.org/10.1136/bmjsem-2023-001821.