Differences In SMHAT-1 Scores Among Collegiate Athletes After Utilization Of University-sponsored Mental Health Services

Mental health is an epidemic that continues to worsen among young adults. To promote positive mental health, universities need to provide accessible and effective mental health services to their student-athletes. PURPOSE: To determine differences in Sport Mental Health Assessment Tool-1 (SMHAT-1) scores in collegiate athletes after utilization of university-sponsored mental health services (USMHS). METHODS: Collegiate athletes completed the SMHAT-1 during their annual pre-participation physical exam (n = 104; 63.5% female; 22.4% first-year students; 61.5% White). Athletes who had utilized USMHS were included in the current analysis (n = 21; 20.2%). Athletes had to sign a formal consent form, approved by the University Institutional Review Board, to be included in the study. Dependent variables included SMHAT-1 section scores (triage, anxiety, depression, sleep, drug use, alcohol misuse, disordered eating, total). The independent variable was USMHS (yes versus no). Paired t-tests compared each SMHAT-1 outcome before and after utilizing USMHS with significance set at alpha = 0.05. RESULTS: Before using USMHS, most participants scored over the threshold of concern for triage (n = 21; 100.0%), anxiety (n = 13; 61.9%), depression (n = 15; 71.4%), sleep (n = 21; 100.0%), and disordered eating (n = 19; 90.5%). After using USMHS, participants endorsed significantly less symptoms for triage ((Pre: Mean = 24.1, SD = 5.6) (Post: Mean = 20.1, SD = 8.9); t(20) = 3.404, p = 0.003), anxiety ((Pre: Mean = 7.8, SD = 6.1) (Post: Mean = 5.6, SD = 6.3); t(20) = 2.676, p = 0.015), depression ((Pre: Mean = 8.7, SD = 6.1) (Post: Mean = 6.0, SD = 7.4); t(20) = 3.488, p = 0.002), and overall total score ((Pre: Mean = 71.5, SD = 20.6) (Post: Mean = 60.6, SD = 27.9); t(20) = 3.769, p = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Healthcare professionals working with collegiate athletes need to be aware of mental health concerns, resources available at their institutions, and whether or not those services are effective. Only a small subset of the participants in this study actually utilized university-sponsored mental health services. The data supports the effectiveness of these services at reducing mental health symptoms in totality; however, more work needs to be done to encourage collegiate athletes to actually seek out and utilize these services in the future.