Table 2.
Mental health symptoms among currently competing elite para-athletes and non-para-athletes
| Variable | Para-athletes (n = 110) Mean (SD) |
Non-para-athletes (n = 639) Mean (SD) |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Males | Females | Total | Males | Females | |
| Psychological distress: K-10 total score | 16.7 (5.9) | 16.7 (6.1) | 16.9 (5.5) | 16.3 (5.8) | 15.3 (5.5) | 17.3 (6.3) |
|
General Health Questionnaire-28 (GHQ-28): total score Anxiety/insomnia subscale score Somatic symptoms subscale score Social dysfunction subscale score Severe depression subscale score |
20.8 (10.6) 5.6 (4.3) 5.8 (3.8) 7.4 (2.3) 1.8 (2.9) |
20.8 (10.9) 5.8 (4.5) 5.6 (3.4) 7.3 (2.1) 2.0 (3.4) |
21.5 (11.0) 5.6 (4.4) 6.3 (4.4) 7.6 (2.8) 2.0 (2.9) |
19.4 (10.8) 5.4 (4.5) 5.4 (3.5) 7.1 (2.6) 1.4 (2.7) |
16.5 (9.8) 4.1 (4.2) 4.6 (3.4) 6.7 (2.5) 1.1 (2.4) |
21.6 (11.4) 6.4 (4.7) 6.1 (3.6) 7.4 (2.8) 1.7 (3.0) |
|
Satisfaction with life scale: total score Mental wellbeing total score |
25.5 (3.8) 48.9 (8.1) |
25.6 (5.8) 49.2 (7.6) |
25.3 (6.0) 49.1 (8.9) |
26.7 (5.9) 50.1 (9.4) |
27.3 (5.9) 52.4 (8.8) |
26.5 (6.0) 48.6 (9.4) |
| Self-esteem total score | 20.7 (4.8) | 21.1 (4.8) | 20.3 (5.4) | 21.6 (4.7)* | 22.7 (4.5) | 20.9 (4.8) |
|
Male depression rating scale total score Anger and aggression subscale score Risk-taking subscale score AUDIT Total score |
5.1 (6.9) 2.7 (4.2) 2.4 (3.6) 2.7 (3.1) |
5.9 (7.3) 3.2 (4.5) 2.6 (3.8) 3.6 (3.5) |
4.5 (6.7) 2.4 (4.2) 2.1 (3.2) 1.8 (2.2) |
6.1 (7.2) 3.2 (4.5) 2.9 (3.5) 4.2 (4.0)** |
6.1 (7.0) 3.1 (4.2) 2.9 (3.5) 4.9 (3.5) |
6.6 (7.7) 3.6 (4.9) 3.0 (3.7) 3.8 (3.8) |
| Alcohol consumption subscale score | 3.9 (1.5) | 3.4 (1.8) | 2.0 (1.3) | 4.3 (1.8) ** | 4.3 (2.3) | 3.3 (1.7) |
| Alcohol dependence subscale score | 0.4 (0.7) | 0.5 (0.7) | 0.3 (0.7) | 0.5 (1.0) | 0.5 (1.1) | 0.4 (1.0) |
| Alcohol-related problem subscale score | 1.7 (1.6) | 1.8 (1.7) | 1.1 (0.9) | 1.3 (1.9) | 1.3 (1.8) | 1.3 (2.1) |
| % | % | % | % | % | % | |
| Quality of life: ‘good’ and ‘very good’ categories | 79.3 | 84.6 | 71.1 | 81.0 | 85.5 | 77.7 |
| GHQ-28: scoring at or above ‘caseness’ threshold | 37.7 | 37.3 | 38.6 | 34.5 | 24.7 | 40.1 |
| EDE-Q ‘high’ body weight dissatisfaction | 25.3 | 17.6 | 34.2 | 25.8 | 16.3 | 33.3 |
| EDE-Q ‘high’ body weight and shape dissatisfaction | 26.7 | 21.6 | 44.8 | 26.2 | 23.1 | 39.7 |
| Problem Gambling Severity Index: non-problem gambling category | 66.7 | 60.0 | 83.3 | 67.5 | 58.1 | 89.2 |
| Hazardous alcohol consumption threshold (AUDIT) | 13.0 | 21.2 | 2.6 | 15.7 | 20.6 | 12.2 |
**p < 0.001, *p < 0.01 for adjusted models