Evaluating the Relationship Between Team Cohesion and Mental Health in NCAA Athletes
Open Access
- Author:
- Rothacker, Janelle
- Area of Honors:
- Kinesiology
- Degree:
- Bachelor of Science
- Document Type:
- Thesis
- Thesis Supervisors:
- Michael Blair Evans, Thesis Supervisor
Jinger S. Gottschall, Thesis Honors Advisor - Keywords:
- NCAA
Mental Health
Kinesiology
Student athlete
anxiety
depression
disordered eating
eating disorder
athlete
team cohesion
sports - Abstract:
- Objective: College student-athletes face unique stressors at a developmental stage marked by heightened prevalence of mental health problems such as anxiety, depression, and disordered eating. Given the value ascribed to membership in small groups, perceptions of group cohesion may be a critical aspect of athletes’ social environment for promoting mental health in sports teams. The purpose of the current study was to determine the association between perceived group cohesion and self-reported perceptions of anxiety, depression, and disordered eating. Methods: Athletes (N =124) were recruited within their sport teams to complete an electronic survey. Participants completed measures of group cohesion (i.e., attraction to group-task, attraction to group-social, group integration-social, group integration-task), social support, anxiety, depression, and disordered eating. Results: Preliminary analyses generally revealed weak bivariate correlations between group cohesion and the three dependent variables, although depression had a moderate correlation with two cohesion subscales: attachment to group-task and group integration-social. Linear regressions examined the extent that four subscales of group cohesion predicted mental health issues. Whereas group cohesion was not a significant predictor of anxiety, depression and disordered eating behaviors were significantly predicted by group cohesion. Increases in cohesion were linked to lower perceptions of both depression and disordered eating with the strongest significant predictors being attachment to group–task and group integration–task. Conclusions: These findings highlight group cohesion as a predictor of mental health issues, and depression in particular. While these findings are preliminary, they point toward the potential role of group environments within mental health interventions.