Investigating mental health outcomes of national collegiate athletic association (NCAA) division I student-athletes at the University of Louisville, 2019-2023.

Author

Paul Harvey, University of LouisvilleFollow

Date on Master's Thesis/Doctoral Dissertation

5-2025

Document Type

Master's Thesis

Degree Name

M.S.

Department

Epidemiology and Population Health

Degree Program

Epidemiology, MSE

Committee Chair

DuPre, Natalie

Committee Member

Rimer, Ernest

Committee Member

Taylor, Kira

Author's Keywords

mental health; college athletes; logistic regression; data management; surveys

Abstract

Mental health outcomes among collegiate student-athletes, has become a broader concern in the 21^st century. This study examines prevalence and incidence of anxiety and depression amongst student-athletes at the University of Louisville from 2019-2023 across different Sports Groups. The prevalence of anxiety was found to be 20.22% and risk of anxiety was 15.65%. The prevalence of depression was found to be 13.11% and risk of depression was 18.75%. Logistic regression was used to estimate the association between sports groups and anxiety/depression. There was a borderline association between sports groups and prevalence of anxiety after confounder adjustment (OR=1.86, 95% CI: 0.92, 3.8) and borderline association, comparing non-Performance to Performance sports, for risk of anxiety before confounder adjustment (OR=0.36, 95% CI: 0.13, 1.01). There was no association between sports groups with prevalence of depression or risk of depression. Future studies should increase the sample size and continue investigating differences amongst sports groups.

Recommended Citation

Harvey, Paul, "Investigating mental health outcomes of national collegiate athletic association (NCAA) division I student-athletes at the University of Louisville, 2019-2023." (2025). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 4530.
Retrieved from https://ir.library.louisville.edu/etd/4530