An analysis of mental health service usage and injuries among NCAA Division I collegiate athletes

Each year, significant resources and effort are devoted to protecting the health of the player and ameliorating the time and financial costs associated with injuries and rehabilitation. However, few studies have investigated the use of mental health services with injuries among the same collegiate athletes over time. This study aimed to investigate injury prevalence rates and injuries incidences in collegiate athletes as a function of mental health service utilization. Results suggest that psychological stress may be one of the key vulnerabilities for injury or reinjury in athlete populations. Athletes visiting a mental health professional were twice as likely to have also sustained a sport-related or non-sport-related injury and approximately 1.5 times as likely to sustain multiple injuries compared to their peers. Injury risk and recovery outcomes can likely be bolstered by making mental health professionals more available to student athletes and integrating psychological services into normal athletic training activities.