Introduction
Mental health problems among the general youth population have increased in the Nordic countries in the past decades.1 Approximately 15%–20% of Norwegian children and adolescents have reduced function due to symptoms of anxiety and depression, and around 7% have symptoms that meet the requirements for a psychiatric diagnosis.2 Although it has been suggested that being involved in competitive sports may protect adolescent student-athletes from mental health issues, simultaneously achieving in both sports and school may also leave student-athletes vulnerable to mental health problems due to the intense or even competing demands of both education and sports.3
Earlier studies have shown that the pressure associated with competitive sports and progressively increasing training loads may predispose young student-athletes, especially to burn-out in sports and school.4 Burn-out has been found to be associated with several negative mental health outcomes in adolescence, including depression and anxiety.5 By definition, sport burn-out is a combination of physical and emotional exhaustion, devaluation of sports, and a reduced sense of accomplishment.6 Burn-out can also occur in school. School burn-out has been described as a phenomenon in which minor school-related stress escalates and ends in burn-out and other severe negative psychological symptoms. Similar to sport burn-out, school burn-out consists of school-related exhaustion (ie, chronic fatigue due to overtaxing schoolwork), school-related cynicism (ie, a distant or indifferent attitude towards school and a loss of interest in schoolwork) and feelings of inadequacy (ie, perceptions of reduced competence and success in school).7 Generally, burn-out can be understood as a consequence of a mismatch between the situational demands in sports (eg, competitions and trainings) and school (eg, exams) and the available resources (eg, social support and feelings of competence) the student-athletes have to cope with these demands.8
Self-esteem is a core personality trait reflecting individuals’ affective evaluation and appreciation of themselves as a person. High self-esteem is often regarded as essential for ensuring good mental health and functioning during adolescence and later in life while low self-esteem may be a risk factor for mental health disorders and burn-out.9 Psychological distress refers to symptoms of anxiety and depression. Although psychological distress does not necessarily correspond to a clinical diagnosis of a mood disorder, high levels of psychological distress are associated with the experience of depression or anxiety-related symptoms and may develop into more severe health outcomes over time.10 Psychological distress has often been used as a measure to indicate poor mental health among adolescent populations in Norway.2
The current study
Being aware of which student-athletes are most at risk of developing mental health problems, such as sports or school burn-out, is an important consideration for educators aiming to ensure the best health, education and sport outcomes for their student-athletes. International studies have suggested that student-athletes in higher school grades, female student-athletes and student-athletes participating in individual sports (vs team sports) may be more likely to experience burn-out symptoms, but this has not been replicated in the Norwegian lower secondary sport school context.11 Similarly, female athletes may report lower levels of self-esteem and higher levels of psychological distress than males.3 12 Therefore, the aim of the present research was to investigate the association between gender, grade and sport type and problematic scores on various scales measuring school burn-out, sport burn-out, self-esteem and psychological distress among student-athletes in a sample of Norwegian lower secondary schools.