Athletes’ psychological strain, negative emotions, and suicidal ideation: a mixed methods study

Suicidal ideation is an emerging issue among athletes, posing significant risks to their mental health. The mechanisms linking psychological strain to suicidal ideation remain unclear. This study addresses this gap by examining the mediating role of negative emotions in this relationship. Additionally, it employs latent profile and network analyses to identify key symptoms of psychological strain and negative emotions, providing novel insights for targeted interventions. A total of 957 athletes from various sports in China were surveyed via the Athlete Psychological Strain Questionnaire (APSQ), the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS-21), and the Positive and Negative Suicide Ideation Inventory (PANSI). Participants were recruited via convenience sampling from sports teams and clubs nationwide. Latent profile analysis was employed to classify the athletes into distinct groups on the basis of their psychological strain levels. This was followed by correlation analysis, structural equation modeling, and network analysis to examine the relationships and mediating effects among the variables. The results of the latent profile analysis indicated that athletes could be categorized into two groups: high- and low-psychological-strain groups. In the high-psychological-strain group, significant positive correlations were found between psychological strain, negative emotions, and suicidal ideation. Negative emotions partially mediated the relationship between psychological strain and suicidal ideation, accounting for 33% of the total effect. Network analysis revealed that “I worried about life after sport” was the core symptom of psychological strain, whereas “Life was meaningless” was the core symptom of negative emotions. This study provides evidence for the crucial role of negative emotions in the relationship between athletes’ psychological strain and suicidal ideation. Network analysis highlights the core symptoms of psychological strain and negative emotions. The findings contribute to a deeper understanding of athletes’ mental health issues and offer valuable insights for developing targeted psychological interventions to enhance athletes’ psychological well-being and sports performance. Not applicable.