Get your Head in the Game!: A Review of Factors that Impact Collegiate Student-Athlete Mental Health Using a Biopsychosocial-Structural Framework

Purpose of Review Over 500,000 college students compete in the three divisions of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) each year. The rates of most mental health issues among collegiate student-athletes approximate the rates among non-athlete college students. In recent years, greater attention has been given to recognizing and treating the mental health concerns of student-athletes. This paper examines some of the specific mental health considerations that may arise when working with student-athletes. Recent Findings Using a biopsychosocial-structural framework, we were able to identify several broad categories of factors that influence the mental health of student-athletes. Within those categories we identified specific diagnoses (such as physical injury), life events (such as early retirement from sport), ways of thinking (including stigma against mental health treatment), and external influences (such as racism and sexism) that impact the mental health of student-athletes. Summary Mental health concerns among college students are common. When working with student-athletes, there are biopsychosocial-structural factors that affect the mental health of student-athletes in unique ways compared to their non-athlete college student counterparts.