Psykisk ohälsa inom juniorishockey : En kvantitativ studie om upplevelsebaserat undvikande och socialt stöd som psykologiska prediktorer

Sammanfattning

The purpose of this study was (1) to examine the prevalence of mental health symptoms, including depression, anxiety, and sleep difficulties, among elite junior ice hockey players, and (2) to investigate whether experiential avoidance and perceived social support predict these outcomes. A cross-sectional quantitative design was used, including 429 elite junior ice hockey players aged 15-26 years. Participants completed validated self-report measures assessing symptoms of depression, anxiety, sleep difficulties, experiential avoidance and perceived social support. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and multiple linear regression analyses. The results showed that the prevalence of mental health symptoms was relatively low compared to previous research on elite athletes. The results also showed that higher levels of experiential avoidance significantly predicted higher levels of depressive symptoms, anxiety, and sleep difficulties. In contrast, perceived social support was not a significant predictor of any mental health outcome. These findings highlight experiential avoidance as a key psychological risk factor for mental health problems among elite junior ice hockey players and underscore the importance of promoting psychological flexibility in high-performance youth sport environments.