Psychological Distress and Well-Being in Athletes in North-East Iceland: A Longitudinal Study of Risk and Protective Factors

About the project

The North Icelandic Center for Sport and Exercise Research (NICSER) group was established in 2021 with the main goal of promoting active collaboration between University of Akureyri and sports clubs within the north-easter region of Iceland. While there has been a significant increase in mental health research and the application of psychological skills training among Icelandic athletes in the past decade, no empirical investigations to-date have specifically focused on athletes within the north-easter region of Iceland.

Research has shown that specific sport-related stressors, such as performance pressures, training-related demands, career transitions, and athletic injuries, can have a negative impact on the well-being and performance of elite athletes. However, few studies have explored risk and protective factors over time and the potential underlying psychological processes that could explain how sport-related stressors may lead to individual differences in distress and well-being.

With this backdrop, the main aims of NICSER's first research project are to investigate overall prevalence of depressive and anxiety symptoms, and to explore a range of sport-specific factors that may be related to individual differences in distress (e.g. symptoms of burnout, anxiety, depression) and well-being. More specifically, this project aims to explore individual level psychological factors and processes (e.g., self-compassion and habitual negative thinking ) that research within clinical psychology have identified as important targets for psychological interventions. These psychological factors will be specifically examined in relation to sport-specific factors such as training volume, injuries, and team-related phenomena (e.g., playing time, coach-athlete relationships).

To achieve the goals of the study, a questionnaire was sent to participants during the spring of 2022 in cooperation with the University of Akureyri Research Centre (RHA). The sample consists of elite athletes in team sports and a comparison group drawn from the general population in the same geographical location. The questionnaire will be sent to the participants at three additional time points during the fall of 2022 and spring 2023.

The results of the study will provide important information concerning current mental health challenges among athletes in this region, and subsequently, how athletes and clubs may be better prepared to tackle these challenges.


The specific objectives are to;

1. assess individual and environmental stressors, such as injury and team environment.
2. assess symptoms of burnout, anxiety, depression, and well-being.
3. assess individual-level risk and protective factors, such as habitual negative thinking and self-compassion, respectively.
4. analyze longitudinal interactions between stressors and individual risk and protective factors on distress and well-being.
 

Members

Nemendur:

Ásgerður Ragnarsdóttir, meistaranemi í heilbrigðisvísindum og Fríða Rún Einarsdóttir, nemi í rannsóknartengdu meistaranámi í sálfræði.

Collaborators

Publications

Mainly publications that are related to the project