Is Help-Seeking for Mental Health Concerns “Normal” for College Athletes? A Social Norm Perspective

As mental health issues are prevalent among athletes, research is warranted to examine athletes' help-seeking for mental health concerns. This study examined the relationship between social norms and college athletes' mental health help-seeking intentions. Analysis of cross-sectional survey data from 290 college athletes in the United States and Canada revealed that after accounting for key control variables, descriptive norms from parents (i.e., perceptions that parents would seek help) were positively associated with athletes' help-seeking intentions. Descriptive norms from coaches, teammates, and friends were not associated with help-seeking intentions. Relationships between descriptive norms and help-seeking intentions were not moderated by social identity or injunctive norms. The findings suggest that descriptive norms may have a small, but meaningful relationship with intentions to seek help for mental health concerns, depending on the person from whom the social norms originate.