The Mental Health of Elite Athletes: A Narrative Systematic Review

“However, there was a tendency for higher vulnerability to these conditions in athletes involved in sports requiring a particularly lean body shape [21, 35, 38– 40] and in female athletes [41–43]—the latter being consistent with the findings of general population studies [87].”

“Such models should capitalise on an early-intervention framework [102–104], ensuring early detection and prompt access to high-quality, evidence-based interventions.”

“Importantly, the mental health of hard-to-engage populations, such as young men [107] and older men [108, 109], could be targeted.”

“The ways by which athletes appraise and cope with these stressors can be a powerful determinant of the impact the stressors have on both their mental health and their sporting success [18].”

“Three reported a higher incidence of eating disorder or body dissatisfaction in elite athletes relative to controls [36], especially in sports emphasising leanness or lower body weight [21, 35].”

“While the included studies focused specifically on elite-level competition at the national or international level, differences between the included sports in terms of training, remuneration, media pressure and other salient variables must be considered [89].”

“…that physical activity has a positive effect on mental health [6, 7], a review has found that intense physical activity performed at the elite athlete level might instead compromise mental wellbeing, increasing symptoms of anxiety and depression through overtraining, injury and burnout [8].”

“Mahoney and Avener [80] Quantitative; crosssectional, observational Psychological factors and cognitive strategies 12 (12:0) Gymnastics; USA Self-verbalisations and certain forms of mental imagery differentiated Olympic-level and nonOlympic-level gymnasts.”

“Given that stigma, poor mental health literacy and negative past experiences of mental health help seeking are key barriers for elite athletes [12], more welldesigned studies, drawing on larger samples, are needed.”

“Such an understanding is required to provide guidance for sport practitioners—including coaches, medical staff and sport psychologists—in developing the coping abilities of elite athletes and, in turn, improving their emotional wellbeing [20].”

“at major events, and the athlete’s interpretation of pre-competitive anxiety may mediate the functional impact of symptoms.(241)”

“Negative effects include the risk of failure leading to poor mental health [8,9], risk of injury [10,11], eating disorders [12], burnout [13], and exercise-induced gastrointestinal tract discomfort [14].”

“Single studies show that the prevalence of mental health symptoms and disorders among both current and former elite athletes seems substantial and similar to the prevalence in the general population.(5) A professional or elite sport career is characterised by more than 640 distinct stressors that could induce mental h…”

“The peak age for the risk of athletes’ onset of mental disorders overlaps with the peak competitive years for elite athletes due to the intense mental and physical demands they experience (Hughes & Leavey, 2012; Rice et al., 2016).”