Relationships among Student-Athletes’ Identity and Mental Health Condition—Survey in the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between the degree of student athletes’ identity and mental health problems in Japanese intercollegiate student-athletes in the COVID-19 pandemic. This study clarifies the current state of mental problems of student-athletes in Japan. The participants were 402 male student-athletes (Age M = 19.72 ± 1.37). The results of correlational analyses indicated that there were significant negative correlations between degree of student-athlete’s identity and depression and sports helplessness for senior grade student-athletes. In addition, as a result of dividing the degree of student-athlete’s identity into three groups and examining the relationship with mental problems, it demonstrated that student-athletes who have a stronger student-athlete identity showed a lower degree of depression and sports helplessness.

Keywords

• Japanese student
• collegiate sports
• mental health
• sports science
• identity