Abstract
The mental wellbeing of collegiate student-athletes is often overlooked by the prioritization of physical health, which impacts athletes’ perceptions of mental health. Previous studies have shown that mental health is underrepresented in athletics, however, questioning about mental health stigma from the student-athlete perspective has not been as widely documented in the field. For this reason, I designed an experimental interview technique to examine the health attitudes in a sporting context from the voices of student-athletes. Participants (N = 25) engaged in a semi-structured one-on-one interview and were given 4 scenarios depicting a hypothetical teammate of high skill or low skill needing to miss an important competition due to a physical health concern or a mental health concern. Participants were asked to elaborate on sources that influenced their responses. I hypothesized that athletes would have different perceptions about mental and physical health depending on the athletic skill of the player in question. Language perceptions were investigated through thematic (qualitative), and sentiment (quantitative) analysis of interview transcriptions. Sentiment and thematic analysis were conducted over several interview themes. The results from thematic analysis showed that student-athletes express high levels of support to their teammates, regardless of skill level or health concern, with teammates and coaches being reported as the main sources of influence for these perceptions. Results from the sentiment analysis showed that student-athletes' had high variation in responses across different themes, demonstrating that perceptions of health are personalized and can be influenced by varying sources. These results highlight the importance of talking about mental health in athletics to decrease stigma, as shown through variation and uncertainty in participants' responses when health concerns directly impact their team.
Advisor
Karazsia, Bryan
Department
Psychology
Recommended Citation
Segal, Lucy, "Beyond the Game: Examining Health Attitudes from a Collegiate Student-Athlete Perspective" (2023). Senior Independent Study Theses. Paper 10596.
https://openworks.wooster.edu/independentstudy/10596
Disciplines
Cognition and Perception | Community Psychology | Health Psychology | Human Factors Psychology | Pain Management | School Psychology | Social Psychology | Sports Studies
Publication Date
2023
Degree Granted
Bachelor of Arts
Document Type
Senior Independent Study Thesis
© Copyright 2023 Lucy Segal