Mental health of young talented football players in an African context: A cross-sectional observational study

Background

Elite sport is a potentially pathogenic environment due to stressors like dual-career, high training demands, and performance pressure. Recent evidence suggests that athletes are at high risk of mental health issues. Even though the FIFA is increasingly paying attention, efforts directed towards young talented footballers are scarce. Few studies have even been conducted on young talented footballers in Africa. The majority of epidemiological studies on athletes also suffer from an analytical approach that does not highlight athletes' mental health profiles. This study aims to describe the mental health profile and their prevalence of young talented footballers in three African representative countries.

Methods

The study applied an observational-based cross-sectional research design with aspiring footballers from three sub-regions of Africa and aged between 10 and 23. The data was collected face-to-face from March to November 2022. Three screening tools were used to measure three mental health outcomes: Satisfaction With Life Scale (subjective well-being), Patient Health Questionnaire 9-item (depression), and Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item scale (anxiety). The mental health outcomes were rates and scores of well-being, depression, and anxiety, used in latent profile analysis.

Findings

507 male young talented footballers (263[51∙9%] Cameroonians, 73[14∙4%] Moroccans, and 171[33∙7%] Ivorians) were included in the analysis with a mean age of 15∙1 (SD 2∙37) years. Screening of mental health states revealed that 367(72∙3%) and 412(81∙8%) of these players experienced anxiety and depressive symptoms respectively and 155(30∙7%) experienced low well-being. Differences in mental health outcomes were noted between countries, age groups and competition levels. Three profiles of mental health condition were also identified, namely moderate mental health (Profile 1), languishing (Profile 2) and flourishing (Profile 3).

Interpretation

The youth of football academies in the three African countries studied have a specific mental health profile, revealing a high prevalence of common mental disorders in the African context. These findings underline the need to enhance the awareness of mental health issues in young African players and provide tailored support.

Funding

FIFA.