Sports Psychiatry Interventions for Improving the Mental Health of Adolescent Girls & Women in Developing Countries

Summary

Introduction:

Depression, a significant cause of global disability burden, is twice as common in women than in men across diverse societies and social contexts. Research indicates that, after puberty, girls in some developing countries are 1.5 - 2 times more likely than boys to be diagnosed with depression in adolescence and throughout life. Globally, suicide is the second leading cause of mortality among females aged 10–24 years, with LMICs accounting for over 75% of global suicide deaths.

 

Sport psychiatry (SP) involves the study of psychological factors influencing and influenced by sport and other physical activity (PA). Sport psychiatrists (SPs) are trained to help individuals (e.g., athletes/non-athlete adults, children/adolescents, disabled persons, seniors, others) understand the connection between PA and mental health and utilize PA, varied psychological skills, and medication to achieve effective participation, personal satisfaction, and personal development. 

 

Methods: Publications from PubMed, PsycINFO, Google Scholar from January 1, 2000, to March 31, 2025 were searched. Boolean operators were used (AND, OR) with search terms including physical activity, psychological skills, mental disorders, girls, women, low-and-middle income countries, sport psychiatry. Studies were screened and included/excluded initially by title review; then abstract review; and subsequently full-text article review. 

 

Results: Physical activity (PA) has been recognized as an accessible, cost-effective, therapeutic mental health intervention. The prescription of PA (e.g., exercise, dance, sport), psychological skills training or PST (e.g., meditation, breathing, goal setting, mental imagery), and medication are interventions shown to be effective for girls and women in LMICs who experience psychological distress or illness.

 

Conclusion: Because SPs have experience in prescribing PA and medication and utilizing PST techniques to improve mental health, SPs may be an important asset to mental health projects which strive to improve the mental health care of at-risk girls and women in LMICs.