Mental ill-health in semi-elite women’s soccer in England: a mixed-methods approach

Bramley, O, Healy, LC ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1372-7308 and Sarkar, M ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8338-8500, 2025. Mental ill-health in semi-elite women’s soccer in England: a mixed-methods approach. International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 23 (3), pp. 415-434. ISSN 1612-197X

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Abstract

Despite the growth in women’s soccer globally, there remains sparse research in this population, especially outside of elite levels and in relation to mental health. Limited research has examined the lived experiences of mental health within sub-elite women’s sport. Within this mixed-methods study, we aimed to provide insight into both the prevalence of mental ill-health and the complexities of how mental health is perceived, interpreted, and experienced in a unique and under-researched population. Footballers competing in tier three of the UK women’s leagues completed a survey to assess mental ill-health symptoms. Follow-up semi-structured interviews were completed with six players. A total of 103 players completed the questionnaire: 49.5% (n = 51) displayed distress symptoms (Kessler-10); 44.7% (n = 46) displayed depression symptoms (CES-D); 20.4% (n = 21) displayed anxiety symptoms (GAD-7); and 22.3% (n = 23) displayed eating disorder symptoms (SCOFF). Using reflexive thematic analysis three themes were developed: “Navigating Tier 3 women’s football: a balancing act”, “Football: is it good for my mental health?” and “Speaking out about my mental health: the confusion and the cost”. Overall, prevalence of symptoms associated with mental ill-health ranged from 20.4% to 49.5% among semi-elite female footballers, which are shaped by individual experiences. The female footballers reported athlete-specific risk factors for mental ill-health at the individual level as well as the sporting environmental level. The findings and implications for sub-elite women’s soccer are discussed.

Item Type:	Journal article
Publication Title:	International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology
Creators:	Bramley, O., Healy, L.C. and Sarkar, M.
Publisher:	Routledge
Date:	2025
Volume:	23
Number:	3
ISSN:	1612-197X
Identifiers:	Number Type 10.1080/1612197X.2024.2311752 DOI 1859935 Other
Rights:	© 2024 the author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s)or with their consent.
Divisions:	Schools > School of Science and Technology
Record created by:	Laura Borcherds
Date Added:	12 Feb 2024 09:22
Last Modified:	29 Apr 2025 09:07
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/50832

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