SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Sport Psychology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1642886
This article is part of the Research TopicEnvironmental Determinants of Athletes’ Development and PerformanceView all 5 articles
The Relationship Between Social Support and Mental Health in Athletes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Provisionally accepted
- 1Shandong University, Jinan, China
- 2Liaoning Institute of Science and Engineering, Jinzhou, China
- 3Ludong University, Yantai, China
- 4Wuhan Sports University, Wuhan, China
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Social support is widely recognized as a key determinant of athletes' mental health; however, inconsistencies remain regarding the strength and source-specific effects of this relationship. This meta-analysis systematically quantifies the association between social support and mental health outcomes in athletes and examines variations by support source. A systematic search was conducted across multiple databases to identify relevant studies. Random-effects models were used to calculate pooled effect sizes expressed as correlation coefficients (r). Subgroup analyses compared the associations of family and friends' support versus team-based support with mental health indicators. Forty studies encompassing 14,462 athletes were included. Overall social support correlated positively with well-being (r = 0.31) and negatively with anxiety (r = -0.22), depression (r = -0.27), and stress (r = -0.25). Notably, support from family and friends showed a significantly stronger negative association with depressive symptoms than team-based support. In conclusion, social support plays a vital role in enhancing athletes' mental health, particularly through close interpersonal relationships. These findings underscore the importance of integrating diverse sources of social support in interventions aimed at improving psychological well-being in athletes.
Keywords: Social support 1, mental health 2, wellbeing 3, anxiety 4, depression 6, stress 6
Received: 07 Jun 2025; Accepted: 18 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Luo, Du, Wang and Luo. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Xiaolin Wang, Ludong University, Yantai, China
Liang Luo, Wuhan Sports University, Wuhan, China
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