Relationships Between Depression And Body Composition In Collegiate Athletes And Non-athletes

Depression rates, and weight gain, appeared to increase post-pandemic, with 62.9% of college students reporting depression with a weak positive correlation noted between body mass index and depression (Duan H 2022). PURPOSE: To 1) determine the incidence of depression at our university and 2) explore relationships between depression and body composition in collegiate athletes and non-athlete’s post-pandemic. METHODS: A convenience sample of collegiate athletes and non-athletes, from a NCAA Division II school, presented to our laboratory in 2022 (post-pandemic) and were screened for depression using the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression - Revised (CESD-R) scale. The threshold for depression was ≥16. Height and weight were obtained using a stadiometer and total body composition was assessed using a dual energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) scanner (Hologic, Horizon A). One-way ANOVA was used to compare depression scores across sport teams. Relationships between body composition and depression scores were assessed using Pearson’s r. RESULTS: 164 males and 59 females participated in our screening tests. The mean depression score for males was 4.97 ± 5.8, with non-athletes (9.44 ± 6.9) having the highest and tennis players (2.1 ± 4.0) having the lowest average depression scores. The mean depression score for females was 11.1 ± 11.6, with non-athletes (18.2 ± 11.9) having the highest and weightlifters (6.5 ± 6.3) having the lowest average depression scores which were significantly different (F(2,53) = 5.01;p = 0.001; athletes versus non-athletes). Statistically significant (p < 0.05) relationships between depression scores and body composition were noted only when male and female data were combined. A positive relationship was noted between depression score vs. body fat percentage (r = 0.30;p = 0.000) with negative relationships noted between depression scores vs. total lean mass (r = -0.26;p = 0.000), bone mineral density (r = -0.23;p = 0.001), and visceral adipose tissue (r = -0.21;p = 0.002). CONCLUSIONS: 1) Non-athletes and females have the highest depression scores and 2) small, but significant, relationships exist between body composition variables versus depression scores when the male and female cohorts were combined.