COMPARING SYMPTOMS OF DEPRESSION IN COLLEGE ATHLETES AND NON-ATHLETES

Abstract

Depression affects millions of Americans each year and the college athlete is no exception (Etzel, Pinkney, & Hinkle, 1995). It is also roughly twice as prevalent in females as males (Culbertson, 1997). Self-report inventiories are often utilized to initially quantify the symptoms of depression. The Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) has emerged as a commonly used inventory due to its brevity and assessment of cognitive and somatic symptoms. The purpose of this study was to examine the reported symptoms of depression in a college freshman population. Subjects were college freshman athletes (n = 159) and non-athletes (n = 113) at a mid-western university. All subjects completed the BDI-II during the fall semester of their freshman year. To control for potential seasonal influences on depression scores, the Seasonal Pattern Assessment Questionnaire (SPAQ) was also administered. A first order factor analysis was conducted on the BDI-II with three overall factors emerging: negative cognition, negative self-perception, and somatic symptoms. A MANCOVA was conducted to examine differences in these three factors based upon gender and sport participation status (athlete vs. non-athlete) with the SPAQ score serving as the covariate. All main effects of the MANCOVA were significant (p < .05) and the interaction effects for the negative cognition and negative self-perception factors were also significant (p < .05). Specifically, male non-athletes reported higher scores than male athletes (X = .22, .16), female non-athletes reported higher scores than female athletes (X = .38, .09), and female non-athletes scored higher than male non-athletes (X = .38, .22). For the negative self-perception factor, female non-athletes scored higher than female athletes (X = .32, .11) and female non-athletes scored higher than male non-athletes (X = .32, .22). With respect to the somatic symptoms factor, non-athletes scored higher than athletes (X = .55, .41) and males scored higher than females (X = .49, .46). Findings indicate that non-athletes and females report the highest levels of depressive symptoms with the female non-athlete most at risk. However, sport participation may be associated with enhanced mental health, especially in college-aged women.