Athletes Connected: Results from a Pilot Project to Address Knowledge and Attitudes about Mental Health among College Student-Athletes
Abstract
Student-athletes experience mental health problems, but they often encounter barriers to seeking help. This study reports findings from the pilot phase of Athletes Connected (AC), a new research and practice program at the University of Michigan addressing mental health and help-seeking behaviors among collegiate student-athletes. Members of the AC team gave presentations consisting of contact- and education-based interventions to every varsity athletic team at a large Division I Midwestern university, along with pre- and postsurvey questionnaires to measure their efficacy. The presentations included an educational overview of mental health, two videos highlighting former student-athletes’ struggles with mental illnesses, and a discussion at the end with the former athletes portrayed in the videos. A total of 626 student-athletes completed the pre- and postsurveys. Results indicated significant increases in knowledge and positive attitudes toward mental health and help-seeking. These results suggest that brief contact- and education-based interventions may be helpful in reducing stigma and promoting help-seeking behavior among college student-athletes.
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Among four studies on mental health knowledge, two reported statistically significant improvements in the level of mental health literacy in athletes.
“Among these four studies, two studies [17,32] reported statistically significant improvements in the level of MHL in athletes.”
From Mental health literacy intervention on help-seeking in athletes: a systematic review (2020) · cites this paper as [17]
Enhanced mental health literacy may contribute to help-seeking.
“Recent evidence has shown that enhanced MHL may contribute to help-seeking [15,17].”
From Mental health literacy intervention on help-seeking in athletes: a systematic review (2020) · cites this paper as [17]
For stigma measures, two studies did not report evidence of reliability and validity.
“In addition, stigma was measured using three types of measures, and two studies [17,31] did not report evidence of reliability and validity.”
From Mental health literacy intervention on help-seeking in athletes: a systematic review (2020) · cites this paper as [17]
The Kern et al. study reported significant improvements in supporting teammates, with small to medium effect sizes.
“The Kern et al. study [17] reported significant improvements in supporting teammates, with small to medium effect sizes.”
From Mental health literacy intervention on help-seeking in athletes: a systematic review (2020) · cites this paper as [17]
There was positive evidence that mental health literacy training improved mental health knowledge, such as recognition of depression or anxiety disorders and referral knowledge, in four interventions.
“There was positive evidence that MHL training improved mental health knowledge, such as recognition of depression or anxiety disorders and referral knowledge in four interventions [15,17,22,32].”
From Mental health literacy intervention on help-seeking in athletes: a systematic review (2020) · cites this paper as [17]
Kern et al. demonstrated that the intervention was beneficial in enhancing participants' confidence in their ability to support teammates, with small to medium effect sizes.
“First, for supporting teammates, the Kern et al. study [17] demonstrated that the intervention was beneficial in enhancing the confidence of the participants in their ability to support their teammates, with small to medium effect sizes.”
From Mental health literacy intervention on help-seeking in athletes: a systematic review (2020) · cites this paper as [17]
Kern et al. reported a medium effect size for help-seeking attitudes in the short term.
“In addition, Kern et al. [17] reported a medium effect size for help-seeking attitudes in the short term.”
From Mental health literacy intervention on help-seeking in athletes: a systematic review (2020) · cites this paper as [17]
Three studies discussed stigma.
“Three studies discussed stigma [17,22,31].”
From Mental health literacy intervention on help-seeking in athletes: a systematic review (2020) · cites this paper as [17]
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- Authors
- Kern, A., Heininger, W., Klueh, E., Salazar, S., Hansen, B., Meyer, T., & Eisenberg, D.
- Affiliations
- University of Michigan (US)
- Corresponding author
- Kern, Adam
- Venue
- Journal of Clinical Sport Psychology
- Publisher
- Human Kinetics
- Published
- 2017-12
- Volume
- 11
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 324-336
- ISSN
- 1932-9261 (ISSN-L)
- 1932-927X
- OpenAlex
- W2773022968
- Cited by
- 58
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 12 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 2
- FWCI
- 5.48
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Clinical Sport Psychology (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Collegiate Athletic Association
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Mental Health Treatment and Access
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychological Treatments and Assessments
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Sport Psychology and Performance
- Keywords
- college student-athletes, mental health, help-seeking, mental health stigma, mental health education, contact interventions, former athletes, mental illness, knowledge and attitudes
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