It was once thought that college athletes were at a lower risk for mental health issues, like depression and anxiety compared to non-college athletes, but research suggests these rates are in fact comparable ( Proctor & Boan-Lenzo, 2010 ; Wolanin et al., 2015 ). Weber et al. (2023) examined the prevalence of the risk of depression and anxiety in collegiate athletes and found them to range between 15.6% to 33.2% and 12.1% to 35.4%, respectively, varying by individual sports compared to team sports, sex, and academic classification. In a meta-analysis of 60 studies, Rice et al. (2016) found that the constant demand to succeed, combined with high expectations from coaches and teammates can escalate anxiety levels. Additionally, college athletes often experience heightened anxiety and depression due to the pressure of maintaining both academic and athletic achievements.

College athletes are at risk for depression due to the unique pressures they face. Injuries, performance slumps, and the balancing act between academics and sports can lead to feelings of isolation and hopelessness. During COVID, a quarter of the 37,000 university student athletes who completed the NCAA student well-being survey, reported feeling a sadness and a sense of loss and one out of 10 student athletes reported feeling so depressed that they were unable to function constantly ( NCAA, 2024 ).

Gulliver et al. (2012) reported in an early study that elite athletes were less likely to seek out mental health care compared to non-athletes because of the added vulnerability and stigma attached to getting care, as well as lack of knowledge of the relationship between mental health and athletic performance. Rice et al. (2016) found there to be limited rigorous studies examining the prevalence of eating disorders, substance use, and stress and coping problems by athletes.

More current research suggests that athletes are more likely to seek out help for psychological issues and the NCAA also recognizes the need for mental health support for student athletes as referred to in their constitution which states that intercollegiate athletics should protect, support and enhance mental and physical health of student athletes. Anxiety and depression are two areas of focus in the Mental Health Best Practices report and the relationship with athlete burnout.

Different studies found correlations among elevated anxiety and depression with increased pain and incidence of injury in athletes ( Yang et al., 2007 ; Li et al., 2017 ). Additionally, poor mental health can put athletes at a greater risk for alcohol and drug abuse, loss of sleep, overtraining or undertraining, and eating disorders ( Armstrong & Oomen-Early, 2009 ). When left untreated, this mental burden, may escalate into clinical depression, further affecting an athlete’s ability to perform, or focus on self-care, academics, and relationships ( Armstrong & Oomen-Early, 2009 ; NIH, 2024 ).

Burnout is defined as a psychological syndrome that involves chronic physical and emotional exhaustion, reduced sense of accomplishment, and sport devaluation ( Gustafsson et al., 2008 ). In college athletes, burnout is often the result of excessive training, overwhelming pressure to succeed, and a lack of balance between sports, academics, and personal life. The constant cycle of practices, competitions, and academic responsibilities can leave athletes feeling exhausted and disengaged, both physically and mentally ( Gustafsson et al., 2008 ). Burnout not only affects performance but also increases the risk of long-term psychological issues if not addressed ( NIH, 2024 ). Yang et al. (2024) found that an increased competitive anxiety and inability to concentrate is related to burnout in athletes, but these effects can be mitigated by the development of competence and autonomy, and other factors related to mental toughness.

Powell & Myers (2017) describe mental toughness as a psychological concept often related to perseverance and success that can help athletes overcome physical or mental setbacks. It is agreed that mental toughness can help an athlete perform at an optimal level despite failure or obstacles ( Hardy et al., 2014 ).

Anthony et al. (2016) identified the importance of using challenging environmental factors to aid in the development of mental toughness, for example creating discomfort and challenges, and moving athletes out of their comfort zones. Cook et al. (2014) examined mental toughness in young soccer players after providing a challenging but supportive environment. When examining the development of the players they found four mental toughness dimensions emerged, including competitiveness with self and others, mindset, resilience, and personal responsibility.

Although there is some debate over the specific nature of mental toughness, it has been associated with several positive outcomes for athletes, including improved performance ( Cowden, 2017 ), thriving ( Anthony et al., 2016 ), and coping with adversity ( Swann et al., 2017 ).

According to Kristjánsdóttir et al. (2018) they found anxiety was lower in athletes who were higher in mental toughness, while Gordon et al. (2017) found the greater mental toughness was related to greater effectiveness when dealing with stressful situations. Lin et al. (2017) found that mental toughness correlated with academic success over a three-year period and was related to a higher income. Mental toughness also increases with age, suggesting that life events may help to develop this construct.

Mental toughness is an important psychological construct for college athletes to develop because of the demands of the sports environment but these characteristics can carry over to help in other areas ( Cook et al., 2014 ). Self-efficacy and locus of control can also help with subjective mental illness recovery ( Ramshaw & St Clair-Thompson, 2021 ). An internal locus of control may increase the work a person may put into recovery because they understand that they are in control.

There are some concerns that athletes who are mentally tough, especially with the characteristics of perseverance and overcoming adversity, may not seek out mental health support ( Bird et al., 2021 ). Bauman (2016) suggests that mental health and mental toughness may be contradictory concepts, and elite athletes are less likely to seek out mental health care for fear of being treated unfairly.

There needs to be a balance between developing mental toughness and encouraging college athletes to seek out mental health care. When there is a public stigma surrounding getting mental health care it can be a strong barrier against a student athlete seeking out help. However, research findings suggest that developing mental toughness can help an athlete cope with pressure, rebound from failure, and be more mentally resilient ( Cowden, 2017 ), therefore possibly offsetting depression and anxiety issues.

The current pre-post study examined self-report changes in depression, anxiety, and burnout in college athletes after receiving mental toughness training from an outside company.

The current study examined changes in depression, anxiety, and burnout in college athletes after mental toughness training. Self-reported anxiety improved after the intervention along with hardiness, but depression and burnout remained stable. These finding suggest that athletes developed resiliency which may have offset their anxiety. Additionally, depression and burnout may need more time to improve or more training sessions to bring about changes in these areas.

Depression and anxiety were strongly related to each other in this study, and both were negatively related to GPA, meaning that both constructs can impair academic success. Anxiety that is left unmanaged can lead to depression, suggesting that changes in anxiety come first followed by mood and behavioral changes.

This research was made possible through the NCAA Accelerating Academic Success Program Grant.