Get Your Head in the Game: Addressing College Athletes’ Negative Emotions in Understanding Social Isolation and Loneliness

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Saturday 11:40 am Four Seasons Ballroom 2-3
  In Roundtable Session: Navigating Transitions and Well-Being in Collegiate Sports: Exploring Postgraduate Paths, Mental Health, Accessibility, and Name, Image, and Likeness (Table 8)

Abstract

College athletes have the unique experience of not only the typical stressors associated with being a college student but also the stressors associated with being a collegiate athlete. These stressors can elicit various negative emotions that can, in turn, lead them to feelings of loneliness and isolation. Little research has examined the relationship between these negative emotions and loneliness and isolation in college athletes. Therefore, the present study investigated this relationship. Findings from surveying 145 college athletes indicate that anxiety significantly predicted feelings of loneliness; however, shame and guilt did not significantly predict loneliness. Gender differences were also found. Implications for this research will further be discussed.

Authors

• Morgan A. Jernigan, Washington State University

• Gan Jin, Washington State University

• Kira J. Carbonneau, Washington State University