Measuring Postinjury Depression among Male and Female Competitive Athletes

TLDR

Depression frequently follows sport injury, yet research on its severity, gender differences, and interview‑based assessment remains scarce. The study employed a quasi‑experimental design that compared self‑report checklists and clinical interviews across male and female athletes at 1 week, 1 month, and 3 months postinjury, and evaluated the checklist’s sensitivity and specificity against the interview. Results showed that injury status and time since injury affected depression scores differently for the checklist and interview, highlighting the need for multimodal assessment and clinical judgment in postinjury depression evaluation.

Abstract

Depression is common among athletes following sport injury, yet few studies have explored the severity of postinjury depression. Among those studies, only one examined gender differences although women in the general population are more likely than men to experience depression. No research to date has used interviews to assess depression despite their standard use among mental health professionals. In a quasi-experimental design, we used a self-report checklist and a clinical interview to compare depression among male and female athletes at 1 week, 1 month, and 3 months postinjury. Results revealed significant effects of group (injured vs. control) and time (since injury), and these effects were different for the two depression measures. We also explored the sensitivity and specificity of the user-rated checklist in identifying severely depressed athletes compared with the interview. Findings underscore the importance of multimodal approaches and clinical judgment when evaluating athletes' postinjury depression symptoms.