Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Symptoms among Football Players in Iceland: The Effects of Injuries, Overtraining and Insecurity
The prevalence of mental disorders in athletes has remained unclear and an inconsistency has occurred between studies of whether the prevalence is higher, lower or similar to the general public. However, research has indicated several risk markers related to an increase in the prevalence of mental disorders such as depression, anxiety, stress and eating disorders. Factors such as suffering from injuries, overtraining and insecurity has been found to be related to an increase in mental disorders. The present research aimed to study the prevalence of depression, anxiety and stress among football players in Iceland and potential risk markers. The participants of the study were 254 football players from six of the 13 clubs that compete in Iceland's top league, Pepsi-league, and either played for the first team, or the under 20s team. Males were 63% and female 37%. The results of the study indicated a great difference between the genders. Furthermore, it revealed a strong relation between insecurity, as well as dissatisfaction with the club with a higher prevalence of depression and anxiety. However, inconsistent with former research, injuries and overtraining had a weak relation with anxiety, depression, and stress. Keywords: mental health, football players, injuries, overtraining, insecurity
Sálfræði, Geðraskanir, Knattspyrnumenn, Psychology, Mental disorders, Football players
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