Identification And Navigation Of Mental Health Stressors In Collegiate Female Athletes

Download or read book Identification and Navigation of Mental Health Stressors in Collegiate Female Athletes written by Dianna Marie Marinaro and published by . This book was released on 2023 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Mental health is a national priority and encompasses many elements, such as cognitive, behavioral, and emotional wellbeing. Moreover, collegiate female athletes are exposed to numerous mental health stressors, that when left untreated, can lead to further mental health complications and athlete burn-out. The expectation to prosper in the classroom as well as on the field can cause an accumulation of one or many mental health issues within an athlete. The purpose of this qualitative case study is to identify mental health stressors that female athletes experience at the collegiate level, as well as the supports and barriers that they encounter while trying to navigate these mental health stressors. This qualitative case study will draw attention to the issues in mental health that collegiate female athletes are facing as well as recognize the hurdles and current resources that are available to support them. The following research questions will guide this study: 1) How do female athletes describe the mental health stressors that they have experienced during their collegiate years? 2) What barriers do collegiate female athletes experience when navigating mental health stressors? 3) How do coaches describe their capacity to provide collegiate female athletes with supports to navigate mental health stressors? This study is significant because it will provide vital information regarding prevalent mental health stressors that collegiate female athletes experience, as well as highlight the supports and barriers they have access to. Furthermore, this study is significant because the findings have the potential to benefit numerous stakeholders. Subsequently, this study will highlight the need for proper tools, supports, and resources that will allow for female athletes to overcome, as well as control mental health stressors that they may experience during college. Finally, this study is significant because the identified mental health stressors that may be shared by the collegiate female athletes who participate in this study may be transferable to male collegiate athletes, as well as non-athlete college students. Key words: mental health, stressors, student athletes, social constructivism, focus group, case study