Called up: calling to social justice action (SJA) and mental health of athletes

Abstract

The power of athletes to have social impacts is increasingly being acknowledged, and more and more sports stakeholders are recognizing athletes’ interests and motivations to engage in social justice action (SJA; e.g. advocacy, activism). This contribution proposes the Athletes’ Calling To SJA (ACTS) Mental Health Framework and mental health notes to explore the converse—how SJA impacts athletes, specifically their mental health. The ACTS Mental Health Framework provides an initial conceptualization of how SJA might impact athlete mental health through living a perceived “calling” to engage in SJA and additional potentially relevant factors. Empirical scholarship and sports examples are used to envision, outline, and advance the hypothesis that athlete SJA and engagement with current social issues could serve as mechanisms to support athlete mental health. Mental health considerations (“mental health notes”) provide practice considerations.