Effects of an educational program on mental health, lifestyles and self-care in university athletes
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.55040/2hfvaa03Keywords:
female athletes, health promotion, mental health, healthy lifestyle, reproductive healthAbstract
Female college athletes face physical, academic, and psychosocial demands that can affect their mental health, lifestyles, and reproductive well-being. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of an educational program aimed at promoting healthy habits, strengthening mental health, and encouraging sexual and reproductive self-care in this target population. A quantitative study with a pre-experimental design was carried out on a sample of 75 athletes from a public university in north-eastern Mexico, with an average age of 18.89 years (SD = 1.17). The self-directed programme lasted eight weeks and covered four key areas: lifestyle, harmful habits and addictions, mental health, and responsible sexuality. Validated instruments were used to assess depression, anxiety, and stress (DASS-21), health-promoting lifestyles (HPLP-II), alcohol and tobacco use, as well as knowledge and behaviors related to sexual and reproductive self-care. Analysis was carried out using SPSS version 25.0, employing chi-squared tests, the Mann-Whitney U test, multiple linear regression analysis and ANCOVA tests. The results showed a significant reduction in stress and improvements in nutrition, interpersonal relationships, stress management and an increase in sexual self-care behaviours (p < .05). Although scores for knowledge of reproduction and sexuality decreased, the increase in health self-care (behavioural aspect) suggests a positive effect. Overall, self-directed educational programmes can promote the adoption of healthy lifestyles, mental health and sexual health self-care among young female university athletes.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Mariana Suárez-Pérez, Rosa Elena Medina-Rodríguez, María Cristina Enríquez-Reyna, Oddete Moreno-Muciño, Eduardo Alejandro Díaz Ochoa, Oswaldo Ceballos-Gurrola (Autor/a)
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