TY  - JOUR
A1  - Brand, Ralf
A1  - Wolff, Wanja
A1  - Hoyer, Jürgen
T1  - Psychological Symptoms and Chronic Mood in Representative Samples of Elite Student-Athletes, Deselected Student-Athletes and Comparison Students
JF  - School mental health : a multidisciplinary research and practice journal
N2  - Stress-levels experienced by school-aged elite athletes are pronounced, but data on their mental health status are widely lacking. In our study, we examined self-reported psychological symptoms and chronic mood. Data from a representative sample of 866 elite student-athletes (aged 12-15 years), enrolled in high-performance sport programming in German Elite Schools of Sport, were compared with data from 80 student-athletes from the same schools who have just been deselected from elite sport promotion, and from 432 age-and sex-matched non-sport students from regular schools (without such programming). Anxiety symptoms were least prevalent in female elite student-athletes. In male elite student-athletes, only symptoms of posttraumatic stress were less prevalent than in the other groups. Somatoform symptoms were generally more frequent in athletes, a trend that was significantly pronounced in deselected athletes. Deselected athletes showed an increased risk for psychological symptoms compared with both other groups. Regarding chronic mood, again deselected athletes showed less positive scores. While there was a trend toward high-performance sport being associated with better psychological health at least in girls, preventative programs should take into account that deselection from elite sport programming may be associated with specific risks for mental disorders.
KW  - School
KW  - Mental health
KW  - Mental disorders
KW  - Competitive sport
KW  - Forced drop-out
Y1  - 2013
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1007/s12310-012-9095-8
SN  - 1866-2625
SN  - 1866-2633
VL  - 5
IS  - 3
SP  - 166
EP  - 174
PB  - Springer
CY  - New York
ER  -