A three-year longitudinal study of athlete mental health: A cricket case study

The majority of research on athlete mental health is cross-sectional. The aim of this research was to investigate whether elements of athlete mental health differ between discrete periods of a sporting cycle. We measured depression, anxiety, alcohol misuse, problem gambling, and wellbeing of elite male cricketers during the preseason, mid-season, and off-season across three years. We used multiple imputation to account for missing data and conducted repeated-measures analysis of variance for each of the mental health markers. Depression and alcohol misuse levels significantly changed across time, whilst anxiety and wellbeing levels remained stable. Depression levels were highest during the mid-season but appeared to return to a baseline during the off-season and preseason. Alcohol misuse levels were highest during the off-season. Differences in mental health between discrete time points of a sporting cycle demonstrate the temporal component of athlete mental health. From a research perspective, the findings highlight the importance of conducting longitudinal mental health monitoring that accounts for multiple discrete periods within the athlete's sporting cycle. Practically, the resetting of depression levels during the off-season and preseason illustrates the importance of time away from competition and thus serves as a warning for administrators who are considering adding fixtures and ultimately lengthening playing seasons.