Predictors of mental health service use among Division-I student-athletes and implications for practitioners
Presentation
Overview
Overview
Description
Research examining mental health service utilization among college student-athletes has been scant. Since pioneering efforts in previous decades (e.g., Carmen et al., 1968; Bergandi & Wittig, 1984; Leffingwell et al., 2001; see also vol. 1 iss. 3 of JCSP), a review of more recent research in this domain pointed to the “considerable variability” (Moreland et al., 2018, p. 64) with which service use has been conceptualized. While many scholars have focused on attitudes towards/intentions to use services, and several have examined use of performance consulting services (Moreland et al., 2018), fewer have set out to assess self-reported mental health service use among college student-athletes. Recent qualitative research offers some insight to the precursors of mental health service use among collegiate athletes (Bird et al., 2017), but there has yet to be any quantitative research examining predictors or mental health service use within this population. In a preliminary effort t o fill this gap, 230 Division-I student-athletes (Mage = 19.6 years, 80.4% female, 79.6% Caucasian) across six conferences were surveyed. A binary logistic regression (χ2(19) = 66.76, p < .001, Nagelkerke R2 = .47) revealed several significant predictors of mental health service use, including age, gender, how student-athletes first heard about the available services, knowledge of emergency contacts, satisfaction with mental health outreach availability, and satisfaction with the availability of mental health services specifically for student-athletes. Though caution is needed in generalizing the results of this study, discussion will focus on how practitioners in collegiate athletics might tailor their outreach, service delivery options, and marketing based on these preliminary findings.
