Paediatric athletes had significantly lower positive screenings for alcohol misuse and psychological strain than adults on the SMHAT-1 (p<0.001 and p=0.034 respectively).
Do paediatric Olympic and Paralympic athletes exhibit differences in positive screenings on the SMHAT-1 compared with adult athletes?
Paediatric elite athletes show similar rates of positive mental health screenings to adults on most SMHAT-1 subcomponents, but lower rates for alcohol misuse and psychological strain.
Absolute Event Rate: 0% vs 0%
Objective To determine if paediatric athletes exhibit differences in positive screenings on the Sport Mental Health Assessment Tool (SMHAT-1) compared with adults. Methods Team USA Olympic and Paralympic paediatric athletes ≤21 years (n=589; 58.8% female; age=19.5±1.7 years) completed the SMHAT-1 between January 2021 and September 2024. A comparative sample of Team USA adult athletes (n=493, 54.2% female; age=27.3±4.9 years) matched for sex and sport was randomly sampled, and the percentage of athletes with a positive screening on each questionnaire was calculated. χ 2 analysis compared the proportion of positive screenings between paediatric and adult samples. Piecewise linear regression assessed the association between age and total questionnaire scores. Results The proportion of positive screenings was lower for paediatric athletes for the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test Consumption (AUDIT-C) (χ 2 (1)=21.2, p0.05). Conclusion Paediatric athletes produce a similar proportion of positive screenings to adults on subcomponents of the SMHAT-1, but they show a lower proportion of positive screenings for alcohol misuse and psychological strain. The changes in SMHAT-1 subcomponent scores among paediatric athletes warrant continued exploration to determine how the interaction of psychosocial development and elite sport may impact mental health.
Triplett et al. (Thu,) reported a other. Paediatric athletes had significantly lower positive screenings for alcohol misuse and psychological strain than adults on the SMHAT-1 (p<0.001 and p=0.034 respectively).