Are you Healthy and Happy? A Cross-Sectional Study on Mental Health and Happiness among University Student-Athletes in Malaysia

Abstract

Despite its successful academic achievement, Malaysian students suffer from poor mental health. Various sources of poor mental health reported and playing dual roles as student-athletes could be more stressful. How happy these students are yet to be explored with their mental health. Thus, this study aimed to explore the mental health and happiness among university student-athletes and their differences with demographic variables. Participants were university student-athletes who competed in Sukan Institut Pengajian Tinggi (SUKIPT) (N = 364). A stratified sampling technique was employed in selecting the participants through self-administered questionnaires. The instruments used were the General Health questionnaire (GHQ) and Oxford Happiness Questionnaire (OHQ) to measure mental health and happiness of the participants. Findings revealed that the athletes have a moderate mental health and considerable happiness. The female athletes were significantly happier than the male athletes (p < .05), while the mental health exhibited no significant difference (p > .05). The results also revealed no significant relationship between mental health and happiness (p > .05). Higher institutions should pay attention to the student- athletes’ sports and academic demand to prevent mental health issue.