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SELF-STIGMA, ATTITUDES, AND PREFERENCES WHEN SEEKING MENTAL HEALTH AND SPORT PSYCHOLOGY SERVICES: A STUDENT-ATHLETE POINT OF VIEW

This study explored student-athletes’ attitudes, stigmas, and preferences toward mental health and sport psychology services. Previous research has identified that student-athletes report similar rates of distress compared to the general student population (Davoren & Hwang, 2014; Frank, Hautzinger & Beckmann, 2013). While student-athletes are in need of mental health services, previous research has also found that student-athletes can benefit from the use of sport psychology services. Previous research has demonstrated the need to support student-athletes as people, students, and athletes (Andersen, Miles, Robinson, & Mahoney, 2004; Bond, 2002; Friesen & Orlick, 2010; Miller & Kerr, 2002). However, not all athletic departments offer mental health and sport psychology services for their student-athletes. Additionally, student-athletes, coaches, and athletic departments, often stigmatize mental health and sport psychology services which results in underutilization. In order to better understand the need and preferences of using these services from a student-athlete’s perspective, this study surveyed 174 iv NCAA Division 1 athletes. The findings of this study revealed that student-athletes were more likely to seek mental health and sport psychology services if they had a) positive attitudes toward seeking help, b) low levels of self-stigma and c) services accessible within their athletic department.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:uky.edu/oai:uknowledge.uky.edu:khp_etds-1048
Date01 January 2017
CreatorsGoodwin, Rena Marie
PublisherUKnowledge
Source SetsUniversity of Kentucky
Detected LanguageEnglish
Typetext
Formatapplication/pdf
SourceTheses and Dissertations--Kinesiology and Health Promotion

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