REASONS COLLEGIATE ATHLETES FEEL UNWELL: SELF-REPORTED SLEEP, NUTRITION, AND STRESS

Autor: Jennifer A. Bunn, Andrew R. Thornton, Paula Parker
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2024
Předmět:
Zdroj: Journal of Applied Sports Sciences, Vol 2, Iss 2024, Pp 11-21 (2024)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 2534-9597
2535-0145
DOI: 10.37393/JASS.2024.02.2
Popis: Introduction: Daily assessments of wellness via short quantitative surveys are becoming a mainstay across professional and collegiate sports. The data typically provide a numerical value on a scale indicating negative and positive scores across several wellness domains. However, little has been reported on why athletes indicate negative scores in wellness. Purpose: This study evaluated reasons reported for low wellness scores in sleep quality, stress, and nutrition, as well as differences in reasons for low wellness among sports and by sex. Methodology: Collegiate athletes from women’s volleyball (n=67), men’s and women’s soccer (n=119), men’s and women’s swimming (n=79), and men’s and women’s basketball (n=87) completed daily assessments of wellness. With a negative wellness score (≤ 3 on a 5-point scale), athletes were prompted to provide a reason for feeling unwell. Results: Chi-square analyses indicated a sex difference for reasons provided for poor sleep and a difference by sport for females and males (all p < .001). Reasons cited for poor sleep quality were late night (23.7%) and “other” (22.3%). For stress, analyses showed differences by sex and sport for females and males (all p < .001). Academic/work stress was the most common reason for poor stress (60.2%). For nutrition, analyses indicated differences by sex (p < .001) and by sport for females (p < .001) and males (p = .008). Consuming fewer than three meals/snacks per day (26.2%) and low fluid intake (21.9%) were the top two reasons for poor nutrition. Conclusions: These data shed light on reasons why athletes experience low wellness. Coaches and support staff can target specific reasons to enhance athlete wellness and the student-athlete experience.
Databáze: Directory of Open Access Journals
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