Depressive symptoms prevalent among Division I college athletes

Nearly a quarter of 465 college athletes reported depressive symptoms.

Nearly a quarter of Division I college athletes reported depressive symptoms while enrolled at a liberal arts university on the East Coast, says a new study published in the February issue of the British Journal of Sports Medicine. Women were almost two times more likely to experience symptoms than their male peers.

While past research has tended to focus only on specific sports or genders, this study examined whether the prevalence of symptoms varied between gender and across nine different sports: baseball/softball, basketball, cheerleading, crew, field hockey, lacrosse, track and field, soccer and tennis.

During their annual sports medicine physicals, the athletes completed anonymous surveys that asked questions about their mood, appetite, attention, relationships and sleep habits. Based on the responses, the student athletes were assessed for depression using the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CESD).

The researchers found that nearly 24 percent of the 465 athletes reported a "clinically relevant" level of depressive symptoms, and 6 percent reported moderate to severe symptoms. Across all sports, female athletes had a significantly higher prevalence rate for depressive symptoms than men, 28 percent compared to 18 percent.