Comparing the Mental Health of Athlete and Non-athlete Female Students of Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences

Within recent 20 years, psychological and psychotherapeutic issues have absorbed great attention in regard with the physical activity. Since students’ mental health is regarded significant, this study aimed to compare mental health of athlete and non-athlete female students in Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences. This descriptive analytical study consisted of 200 female students of Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences who were classified into two groups of athletes (case group) and non-athlete (control group) students. Mental health of the selected students was compared utilizing the general health questionnaire including 28 questions (GHQ 28) along with some questions probing for the subjects’ demographic information. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS software via univariate t-test, and non-parametric Chi Square test. The study results demonstrated that there was a significant difference in regard with the general health of athlete and non athlete female students (p> 0.05). Among subscales of general health, the highest mean score belonged to social dysfunctions within non-athletes and depression subscale within athletes. Moreover, depression was reported to have the lowest mean score in the both groups. The general health of non-athlete female students was higher than cut point of 23. The study findings demonstrated a better situation of general health within athlete female students compared to non-athlete female students. However, it is worth mentioning that a tendency of higher risks for depression was observed in both groups and general health was reported to be at risk in non-athletes.