Researchers and authors have all discussed the mental health disorders and struggles that can result from participating in sports at an elite, or even an adolescent level. This subtopic is important to my research question because it gives me a broad idea of how elite athletes can suffer from issues of mental health due to a sport they play. The only constraint with these articles is that they can be too broad and potentially unhelpful in showing how male athletes suffer more from mental health concerns while also receiving less support. Thompson and Sherman(1999) studied how athletes can suffer from eating disorders due to the pressure they face in their respective sport. Thompson and Sherman cover what demographics of athletes suffer the most from eating disorders. In a survey of NCAA institutions, it was found that 93% of the reports from athletic directors indicating eating disorders among their athletes occurred in women’s programs. This is important because the research shows how college sports and the expectations from them can lead to eating disorders. (1999) However, body stereotypes and subcultural aspects of a sport can further complicate the identification process with male athletes (1999). In terms of which sport suffers the most, it was found that 21% of the college wrestlers in their study scored high on standardized measures of eating symptomatology(320). Wrestlers are expected to maintain a certain weight for long periods of time. This helps my research question because it discusses the possible mental health effects caused by college and professional sports and why they happen and who they affect the most, which are typically male dominated sports. Research done by multiple scholars focused on the mental stressors that sports participation puts on all athletes, how these mental stressors can be placed on athletes at a very young age, and the mental stress that elite athletes face everyday and how it carries over to the decline of their mental health. Studies done in Gouttebarge et al (2022), found that mental health disorders can be found in athletes very early if they are spoken out more and more support systems can be reached for them if they do so. Elite athletes can be a powerful support system for each other (Gouttebarge et al 2022). These articles help my research because the researchers give me some ideas as to how athletes suffer from gender norms. The fault lies in the fact that the authors barely talk about gender.
Scholars have also focused on a decrease in life satisfaction due to playing a specific sport. Blom, Bolin, & Bowman(2021), completed a study about American Football players and how they are affected by masculine norms. Their main findings convey that as football players’ conformity to masculine norms increase, their athletic identity increases while their personal growth, life satisfaction and positive relationships decrease. (Blom, Bolin, & Bowman, 2021) Fogarty and Albion focused on a study done on Australian athletes, a bit different and may fall underneath a different category but provided great insight as to how many elite athletes feel a sense of dissatisfaction while playing a sport. They discussed different phases of an athlete’s life; and retirement stuck out to me. Athletes who retired voluntarily reported an increase in life satisfaction post-retirement. Meaning less issues with their mental health and less pressure from gender expectations and norms. (Fogarty & Albion: 2014) These articles are imperative to my research question because they discuss increased depression with life amongst athletes.