“This central feature of identity has the potential to inform sport psychologists, sport psychiatrists, health practitioners, and sporting institutions on how to proactively support identity explorations of the whole person within the culture of sport."
—Ashley McTaggart, MA Counselling Psychology
Ashley McTaggart is keen to understand how depression affects the way competitive athletes view themselves.
A recipient of a 2021 Canada Graduate Scholarship – Master’s Award, McTaggart, a MA Counselling Psychology researcher (faculty supervisor: Dr. Marvin McDonald), will explore the lived experience of competitive athletes with depression. She will investigate how these athletes develop a sense of identity as they transition from adolescence into early adulthood.
McTaggart explains that she is particularly interested in athletes who are emerging adults, as this phase is a “unique and expanded period of development marked by identity exploration and identity issues.”
Through her research McTaggart hopes to uncover ways to better support mental health and identity development in athletes. She aims to provide new understandings of the protective factors of identity development in supporting mental health in athletes, while also highlighting the risk factors of identity that are barriers to mental health.
“This central feature of identity has the potential to inform sport psychologists, sport psychiatrists, health practitioners, and sporting institutions on how to proactively support identity explorations of the whole person within the culture of sport,” she said.
Sporting culture and the hidden needs of athletes
In her preliminary research, McTaggart discovered that athletes suffer from mental health issues at the same rate as the general public, but athletes are being over looked and under treated by the mental health system.
Studies also show that student athletes had the greatest prevalence of depression amongst all subgroups.
“Research has started to suggest that athletes should be considered a unique subset of the population that experience mental health issues in unique ways.” McTaggart said.
“One example is that athletes will often still be excelling and participating in their sports at the same level, which can mask symptoms of depression,” she continued.
"Athletes also show reduced helping seeking behaviour due to the characteristic demands that come with a sporting culture," McTaggart said. “These demands are internalized into messages that may make an athlete feel weak in admitting to experiences of depression or other mental health issues."
McTaggart noted that one of the most important findings is the role of identity in being both a protective factor for enhancing mental health, while also being a risk factor for developing and prolonging mental health issues.
“It has been suggested that athletes who over emphasize their athletic identity are at greater risk for developing mental health issues because their sense of self and self worth is contingent upon their internal narrative of performance and strength that is posited by the culture of sport,” she said.
As athletes are often underrepresented in mental health studies, McTaggart’s study will add to the scientific knowledge base by providing qualitative research data on the phenomenon of depression as it is lived out in competitive athletes.
See also—'I Could Have...': Unlocking regret with TWU researcher Allison Yang:
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