Dual Career Experience and Resilience in Swedish Student-Athletes Can Make a Difference to their Mental Health

• This study was aimed at investigating if Dual Career (DC) experiences, resilience, and demographic variables were associated with mental health and mental ill-health in Swedish DC athletes. A total of 487 participants (Mage = 18.51, SD = 3.89), with 45.4% (n = 221) female DC athletes, 30.4% (n = 148) in individual sports, and 16.9% (n = 82) competed at international level completed the DC4MH survey. We performed three Bayesian Linear Regression analysis, using model averaging, to select the models with the predictors that combined had the strongest association with mental health as well as mental ill-health. Results showed that DC competences and benefits and negative experiences were the strongest predictors of depressive symptoms (R2 = 27.2%). Specifically, higher levels of negative experiences and lower levels of perceived DC competences and benefits were associated with higher levels of depressive symptoms. Moreover, negative experiences, resilience, and gender were the strongest predictors of anxiety symptoms. Together, these variables explained 32.6% of the variance in anxiety symptoms. Higher levels of negative experiences and lower levels of resilience were associated with higher levels of anxiety symptoms. Also, females were at a higher risk of experiencing higher levels of anxiety symptoms. Finally, a combination of DC competences and benefits, negative experiences, and resilience could best explain the variance in mental health (R2 = 42.7%). More specifically, higher levels of resilience, DC competences and benefits as well as lower levels of negative DC experiences were associated with higher levels of mental health in Swedish DC athletes.

Subject headings

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Hälsovetenskap -- Idrottsvetenskap (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Health Sciences -- Sport and Fitness Sciences (hsv//eng)

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Psykologi -- Tillämpad psykologi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Psychology -- Applied Psychology (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Samhällsvetenskap/Humaniora

Social Sciences/Humanities

Publication and Content Type

vet (subject category)

kon (subject category)