What is the project about?

Project background of The mental health of student athletes

Working together with the NCAA Student-Athlete Advisory Committees, just as the most settled restorative, psychological well-being, and sports drug associations in the nation, the SSI gives instructive assets and inner-related affiliation best practices and apparatuses which offer a model of care for student's competitor emotional wellness. This direction empowers athletic situations that help-chasing and encourages early recognizable proof through suitable referral and care. Building up conventions for care implies increasingly fair care equitable over sports and inside schools related to the college athlete's emotional wellness and prosperity.

Why this research is important, and why the study should be done?

The importance of this study is based on the concept that mental health is a key parameter that helps student athletes to perform well. The more accurately this parameter is served, the better it is helpful for the athletes to perform the tasks they are assigned. This research work is important because it helped to evaluate the factors that help to maintain and evaluate the mental health of the student-athletes.

The student-athletes tend to have more risks associated with their performances. It is determined in comparison with the counterparts which are non-athlete. Also, the issues and the problems for mental health can better be determined by focusing on the mental health of the student-athletes. The problems may include societal anxiety & depression as well as substance abuse etc.

Gap analysis of The mental health of student athletes

The development of the continuous association with the authorities of the universities and the colleges. It will better help to provide assistance for the care, recommendation and the resolving of the mental health issues in the student-athletes. The consideration regarding the emergencies of mental health along with the catastrophic issues. The risk measurement for the institutions in the context of mental health issues for student-athletes. The performance measures of student-athletes in case they are provided with the trainer for handling and managing the mental health issues.

Literature review of The mental health of student athletes

Mental durability is the two words when applied to focused games serve to hoist the simply great to enormity. Athletes at the most elevated levels in their games regularly have comparable physical abilities and characteristics. The individuals who are "rationally intense" win titles. As the 21st century shuts its subsequent decade, more athletes are taking a stand in opposition to managing psychological wellness issues. That is an impression of insights from various investigations that report more individuals, particularly teenagers and youthful grown-ups, are managing and looking for help for psychological wellness issues (Neal, 2014).

San Diego State University psychology professor Jean Twenge is one of the world's driving specialists on generational contrasts in American youth: "It is anything but a distortion to depict iGen or Generation Z as being on the precarious edge of the most exceedingly terrible psychological wellness emergency in decades," she composed recently. A study distributed in 2016 by Psychology Today found 6.3 percent of university understudy competitors met the criteria of clinically critical misery (McLaughlin KA, 2012).

For secondary school and college athletes, including the pressure of athletic challenge to every day’s life regularly makes a lethal mix. Capable academic competitors are regularly pushed to concentrate on one game, have singular coaches and rehearse or contend all year. For those age 16 to 22, the walk toward adulthood, with its scholastic and social desires, is additionally confounded by competitor desires: when tired, overpowered or down, battle through it. In July, during Big Ten media days, Wolverines mentor Jim Harbaugh turned into the publication kid for mentors who don't comprehend psychological wellness issues. James Hudson, a hostile lineman, moved from Michigan to Cincinnati in December. The school and the student-athletes requested a waiver for quick qualification. Hudson said he moved in light of the fact that he was discouraged. However, he didn't tell the mentors at Michigan (globalsportmatters, 2019) and (believe perform, 2019).

Project research question(s), of The mental health of student athletes

1.      Is specific information available on mental health in student-athletes?

2.      Are the potential concerns regarding mental health and psychology are better determined through the behavior of student-athletes?

3.      Can the challenges for the mental health of student-athletes be determined through their mental health parameters?

Research objectives(s) of The mental health of student athletes

The key research objective is to identify specific information available on mental health in student-athletes. The research will determine the potential concerns regarding mental health and psychology are better determined through the behavior of student-athletes. Another major objective of the study is to evaluate the challenges for the mental health of student-athletes, be determined through their mental health parameters.

Hypotheses of The mental health of student athletes

H1: Specific information available on mental health in student-athletes is enough for mental health concerns of student-athletes.

H2: The potential concerns regarding mental health and psychology are better determined through the behavior of student-athletes.

H3: the challenges for the mental health of student-athletes be determined through their mental health parameters.

Step2: Proposed Activity, Study Design, Data Collection Methods, Sampling Recruitment, Research Procedures, and Analysis Plan

In this step, a research design will be developed based on which whole research study-related activities will depend. Although samples will be selected and recruited to collect research data. Moreover, in this step data analysis plan will be developed to analyze collected data in a statistical way to reach research findings.

Proposed Activity of The mental health of student athletes

The proposed activity is to collect data from the respondents to examine the responsibilities of colligate athletes students. In this research study, the prime attention is on two variables. Athlete's student's responsibilities as an independent research variable. While the dependent research variable for this research study will represent the impact on mental health. The proposed activity will, at the end the final outcomes presenting changes made in the mental health conditions of athletes because of assigned responsibilities.

All proposed steps and actions will contribute to identifying the possible impact on mental health in the light of various kinds of responsibilities added for athletes in daily routine. Some of these activities generate positive impact while others contribute to increasing mental health issues for athletes because of negative consequences. Although research will investigate the intensity of impact and its nature. The proposed activity is focused on the utilization of research analysis techniques, which can have the capability to demonstrate relationship level and relationship direction in a statistical way. Moreover, the proposed activity will present research findings with details about the possible changes and recommendations for improvement. This research will contribute to the betterment and development of colligate athletes' responsibilities for the future.      

Study Design of The mental health of student athletes

The study design is developed in such a way that it will support to arrive at the reflection of the truth. In this research study, selected design is survey-based research design. The research study will rely on this design as the prime attention of research study is to examine and find out the impact of responsibilities on the mental health conditions of athletes. As the research work is for the analysis of athlete’s behavioral outcomes therefore athletes should be the main focus of the research study. Considering this, the survey-based research design is selected to directly interact with colligate athletes students and to collect their responses on research design.        

In this study design, research questions will be directly asked from the prime audience of this research study by considering them as research samples. Then, the survey-based results will be analyzed, and the outcomes will be interpreted. Survey research design is the best to research design to investigate an issue in a quantitative way with the primary audience. Survey research design is mainly used to describe the perception and opinion of athletes regarding changes in their mental health conditions because of responsibilities delegated to them.         

Data Collection methods of The mental health of student athletes

In this section, data collection strategies and methods are discussed for this research study. For this research study, primary data will be collected from the most relevant population. Considering the requirement of a research study, data will be collected in a quantitative way from the selected research samples. For data collection, we will use quantitative data collection technique questionnaire. This study employs a Quantitative research method with secondary data to explore the mental health of current eligible colligate athletes play for NCAA around the United States. The survey questionnaire will be consist of around 30 questions to be asked from research samples.

In this research questionnaire, closed-ended as well as open-ended questions will be used to collect quantitative as well as qualitative research data. In the close-ended questions, respondents will be given the option of answers to select a single one but most suitable one answer under their perception. Structured close-ended questions will list options that are extracted from the previous research literature review.

Moreover, the Likert five-level scale will be used for some questions to collect responses according to levels of agreement and disagreement as well as the level of satisfaction and dissatisfaction. Likert scale based questions will be allotted scores ranges from 1 to 5 to ensure easiness in data analysis later. The data collection method will provide actual responses of the selected audience regarding responsibilities assigned to them as colligate athletes in institutes.         

Sampling Recruitment of The mental health of student athletes

The research topic relates to the whole population of colligate athletes students. Considering the size of population and limitation of available resources it is not easy to collect responses from the entire population. Thus, as a solution to this research problem, some representatives are selected from the entire population. These representatives of the population are selected as research samples to collect research data in a quantitative way. Research samples will be selected from the NCAA athletes eligible in the US because of the relevancy of these representatives with the research topic to be studied in this research project.   

The total selected research samples are around 20-30. Research samples will include both genders. Equal research representatives will be selected from males as well as females research population. Thus, both genders will represent their opinion about the research problem. Representatives will be selected on the basis of random selection from the targeted population to ensure fairness of research study and control of biases.       

Research Procedures of The mental health of student athletes

Research procedures are taken simply to avoid conflicts and issues causes by complexities. Research work will start from the identification of research questions and development of hypotheses based on the information extracted and collected from the review of previous research studies as a literature review. Followed by this, the research questionnaire will be developed for data collection. Then on the basis of this questionnaire, data will be collected from the research representatives (samples) regarding their perception and opinion on NCAA student’s responsibilities as an athlete and its impact on their mental health condition and issues, e.g. stress, depression, and anxiety.

After the collection of required quantitative research data, the next step is to organize and then analyze research data. Several statistical testing techniques suitable for this research work will be used to analyze the tendency, relationship, and relationship direction of collected data. Research work will then include the presentation of research findings through tables, figures, and charts. Moreover, the final step conclusion will be drawn from all research findings and data analysis outcomes to research at generalization statement.         

Analysis Plan of The mental health of student athletes

Analysis of research data includes statistical techniques such as correlation, regression, and central tendency measures. The correlation will be used to represent the relationship between the responsibilities of NCAA athletes students and mental health conditions. The correlation will explain whether an inverse, direct, positive, or negative (any kind) of relationship exists among these variables of interest or not. While regression analysis will be used to find out variance among the responses of research samples. Additionally, central tendency measures will be used to represents the tendency of data sets in the form of mean, median, and mode.  

Step 3: Description of anticipated project scholarly outcomes

The project scholarly outcomes include the deliverables as per the timelines defined in the Gantt chart. The presentations on the topic will be presented regarding the results and the finding of the topic of the mental health of student-athletes. It will better serve the purpose to know if the objectives of the current study are achieved or not. Also, the research questions have been answered or not. The hypotheses of the study are accepted or rejected. After the research work has been completed, the conferences will be conducted on the research findings. All of this will be done as per the timelines of the Gantt chart.

Step 4: Timeline of The mental health of student athletes

"In view of my activity and sports brain research foundation, it's an immense issue by and large and in school sports specifically," Kristin Hoffner, a primary speaker in kinesiology at Arizona State, said in a phone meeting. "It's getting perceived more, yet it's a major issue. School competitors are at a first-class level, and they've been shown as long as they can remember to be intense and to push through. Push through apprehension, disappointment, feeling awful or down. Competitors and mentors aren't accustomed to managing emotional well-being issues like wretchedness. It's instilled in the way of life. "There's a disgrace about emotional well-being and looking for directing, with the athletes and many people." (NCAA, 2019)

Step 5: Itemized and Justified Budget

To control the expenditure of the research project and arrange required funds for this research estimated budget is developed. In the presented-below table prepared budget is presented:

Research requires funds to meet all expenditures appropriately without having challenges for the research work. With insufficient budget researcher would not be able to meet all expenditures and cost which will later influence research work negatively. Considering this, it seems essential to develop a plan for expenditure control and estimation of required cost. Pre-estimation will support in arranging required funds to execute all research activities properly within budget and schedule.

Unavailability of required funds also causes to influence the capability of researchers to meet the deadline. As because of insufficient budget and available funds researcher may have to put some important activities on the delay, which will cause time management problems later on. Thus conclusively, development of budget and availability of required funds are important for a better research experience.     

References of the mental health of student athletes

believe perform. (2019). Mental health in student-athletes. Retrieved from https://believeperform.com/mental-health-in-the-student-athlete/

globalsportmatters. (2019). NCAA faces an uphill battle getting mental health care to student-athletes. Retrieved from https://globalsportmatters.com/health/2019/08/21/ncaa-faces-uphill-battle-getting-mental-health-care-to-student-athletes/

McLaughlin KA, G. G. (2012). Childhood adversities and first onset of psychiatric disorders in a national sample of US adolescents. ResearchGate, 1151-1160.

NCAA. (2019). Mental health. Retrieved from http://www.ncaa.org/sport-science-institute/mental-health

Neal, T. (2014). Mental Health and the College Student-Athlete: Developing a Plan to Recognize and Refer Student-Athletes with Psychological Concerns at the Collegiate Level. Science Direct, 18-19.