Mental Health and Officiating Performance

Instances of abuse are shown to reduce the mental well-being of sports officials (Noel et al., 2022). Moreover, 90% of football referees believe common mental disorders (CMD) can negatively influence refereeing performances, however, only 18% seek medical advice (Gouttebarge et al., 2017). Existing literature has yet to quantify the relationship between performance and mental health in sports officials. Therefore, this study will use a subjective rating of officiating performance “(e.g., positioning, rule application, communication, etc.) developed by Hancock et al., (2022), and measures of mental health outcomes using the Kessler K10 psychological distress scale (Kessler et al., 2002), and the Warwick-Edinburgh mental well-being scale (WEMWBS; Tennant et al., 2007) to determine if there is a direct relationship between mental health and performance. A sample of 274 referees (85% male, 84% Caucasian, Mage = 47.3, Mexperience = 19.0) from Canada Basketball participated in this study. A simultaneous Multiple Linear Regression predicting performance from psychological distress and well-being was significant F (2, 268) = 29.90, p < .001), accounting for 17% of the variation in officials’ performance. Interestingly, while well-being was a significant predictor of performance (β = 0.45, p < .001), psychological distress was not. These results are contextualized within the Dual Continuum Model of mental health, which suggests that mental health and mental illness are two separate but related constructs, and support well-being-based initiatives within this population.