Abstract (eng)
Purpose: The aim of the present study, was to investigate the mental burden of female and male professional football players in Austria. Although this topic has been brought to the focus of attention in recent years, there is still an inhibition level to talk about mental illness in professional football (soccer). That’s why this research shall focus on mental health as well as risk and protective factors faced by football players. Methods: During the period of one month, the invitation to participate in the online survey was sent to 86 football clubs. Forty-seven athletes (M_Age = 23.04, SD_Age = 5.76) completed the questionnaire correctly and were used for statistical analysis. Only validated instruments were used to inquire mental health traits as distress, symptoms of anxiety/depression and resilience. These values were set in relation to stressors like frequent injuries, number of surgeries, critical live events and acute injury. Results: The prevalence for investigated scales were 17% for distress and 34% for symptoms of anxiety/depression. Resilient athletes showed significantly less mental stress. In addition, correlations between stressors and the psychological health of the subjects were found. Conclusions: It has been established, that the presence of an acute injurie or a high number of injuries are related to mental well-being of professional football players. Furthermore, no gender differences were found throughout the analysis, though this can be explained by the small sample as well as the homogenous group. In the future, further research and awareness raising on mental stress should lead to a better care situation in Austria.