Temporal Changes in Depression Symptoms in Male and Female Collegiate Student-Athletes
in Journal of Clinical Sport PsychologyClick name to view affiliation
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Depression rates in collegiate student-athletes in the literature are varied and inconclusive, and data have only explored depression symptoms utilizing a crosssectional design. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the temporal course of depression symptoms in student-athletes. Student-athletes (N = 93) from a Division II institution completed six administrations of a brief depression symptom screen once every 2 weeks throughout the fall athletic season. Ten (10.8%) student-athletes’ PHQ-9 surveys were red-flagged for moderate to severe depression symptoms at least once throughout the season. A mixed between-within subjects analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed a significant interaction effect for time and sex in depression symptom scores, F(3.69, 335.70) = 10.36, p ≤ .001. The repeated-measures design of this study suggests that there are clinical benefits for screening for depression symptoms in student-athletes at multiple intervals throughout an athletic season.
McGuire is with the Dept. of Sports Medicine, West Chester University, West Chester, PA. Ingram is with the Dept. of Health Science, Lock Haven University, Lock Haven, PA. Sachs and Tierney are with the Dept. of Kinesiology, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA.
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