Attitudes toward Help-Seeking and Mental Health among College Athletes: Impact of a Psycho-educational Workshop

In this study, I evaluated the impact of a psycho-educational workshop on college-athlete attitudes toward help-seeking, mental health and psychological services. Research has demonstrated that student-athletes who experience significant psychological distress do not seek professional psychological help due to a variety of barriers, including the stigma of mental health/illness, the closed culture of athletics, and time. In this paper, I identified the need for this type of intervention and review relevant and extant literature establishing a thorough understanding of the population, and this topic as it relates to student-athletes. Finally, I reviewed measures used to evaluate changes in attitudes toward help-seeking and toward psychological services. This review is followed by a description of the psycho-educational intervention and research methodology. The results showed that the psycho-educational workshop improved student-athlete attitudes toward help-seeking, mental health and professional psychological services. The psycho-educational workshop also decreased stigma around help-seeking and mental health services and professionals. Findings support continued implementation of a psycho-educational workshop aimed at mediating the aforementioned barriers, thereby creating a culture of student-athletes more open to seeking help for psychological distress.;Keywords: student-athlete, help-seeking, mental health, psycho-education...