Hagiwara, G.; Tsunokawa, T.; Iwatsuki, T.; Shimozono, H.; Kawazura, T. Relationships among Student-Athletes’ Identity, Mental Health, and Social Support in Japanese Student-Athletes during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health2021, 18, 7032.
Hagiwara, G.; Tsunokawa, T.; Iwatsuki, T.; Shimozono, H.; Kawazura, T. Relationships among Student-Athletes’ Identity, Mental Health, and Social Support in Japanese Student-Athletes during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18, 7032.
Journal reference: Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18, 7032 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18137032
Cite as:
Hagiwara, G.; Tsunokawa, T.; Iwatsuki, T.; Shimozono, H.; Kawazura, T. Relationships among Student-Athletes’ Identity, Mental Health, and Social Support in Japanese Student-Athletes during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health2021, 18, 7032.
Hagiwara, G.; Tsunokawa, T.; Iwatsuki, T.; Shimozono, H.; Kawazura, T. Relationships among Student-Athletes’ Identity, Mental Health, and Social Support in Japanese Student-Athletes during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18, 7032.
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships among student athlete’s identity and mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, this study aimed to clarify the relationship between perceived social support from teammates and mental health in student-athletes. Two studies were conducted to investigate to clarify the mental health states of student-athletes in Japan during the COVID-19 pandemic. In Study 1 conducted in April 2020, the participants were 402 male student-athletes, and examined the relationships among student-athlete’s identity and mental health. The results of correlational analyses indicated that there were significant negative correlations between degree of student-athlete’s identity and depression and sports helplessness. In Study 2 conducted in March 2021, the participants were 136 male student-athletes, and examined the relationship between perceived social support from teammates, student-athlete’s identity and mental health. The results indicated that there was significant correlation among social support, student athlete’s identity and mental health. These results suggested that mental health may be improved if student-athletes are strongly aware of their social identity, which is their social role, when unforeseen events such as the COVID-19 pandemic occur. In addition, social support provided by significant others such as teammates may contribute to the improvement of mental health.
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
