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To screen or not to screen? Critical reflections on the use of mental health screening in high-performance sport

Jolan Kegelaers Orcid Logo, Paul Wylleman, Damien Brevers, Kurtis Pankow Orcid Logo, Göran Kenttä

Psychology of Sport and Exercise

Swansea University Author: Kurtis Pankow Orcid Logo

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DOI (Published version): 10.1016/j.psychsport.2026.103146

Abstract

Mental health screening has rapidly gained prominence within sport organisations as an important mental health initiative, to identify individuals at risk and facilitate early intervention. Despite growing policy endorsement and institutional uptake, the empirical and ethical foundations underpinnin...

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Published in: Psychology of Sport and Exercise
Published: Elsevier
URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa71819
first_indexed 2026-04-29T09:29:23Z
last_indexed 2026-05-02T05:25:27Z
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spelling 2026-05-01T08:43:45.3430196 v2 71819 2026-04-29 To screen or not to screen? Critical reflections on the use of mental health screening in high-performance sport fefaac12947ce639c98ee81f632c5686 0000-0002-1782-3877 Kurtis Pankow Kurtis Pankow true false 2026-04-29 EAAS Mental health screening has rapidly gained prominence within sport organisations as an important mental health initiative, to identify individuals at risk and facilitate early intervention. Despite growing policy endorsement and institutional uptake, the empirical and ethical foundations underpinning mental health screening in sport have received limited critical scrutiny. The present paper, therefore, provides a critical narrative review to examine the conceptual, empirical, and ethical foundations of mental health screening in sport. We first provide a concise overview of what is meant by mental health screening in the context of high-performance sport, followed by a discussion of the rationale behind its use. We then critically examine the available evidence, structured around four key areas: (a) the predictive validity of existing screening instruments, (b) implementation and feasibility considerations, (c) the effectiveness of mental health screening programmes, and (d) potential harms and unintended consequences associated with screening. We conclude the paper by offering our recommendations on the conditions under which mental health screening may be considered, as well as situations in which alternative approaches may be more appropriate. Journal Article Psychology of Sport and Exercise Elsevier 0 0 0 0001-01-01 10.1016/j.psychsport.2026.103146 COLLEGE NANME Engineering and Applied Sciences School COLLEGE CODE EAAS Swansea University Other 2026-05-01T08:43:45.3430196 2026-04-29T09:20:21.3946525 Faculty of Science and Engineering School of Engineering and Applied Sciences - Sport and Exercise Sciences Jolan Kegelaers https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4188-3615 1 Paul Wylleman 2 Damien Brevers 3 Kurtis Pankow 0000-0002-1782-3877 4 Göran Kenttä 5
title To screen or not to screen? Critical reflections on the use of mental health screening in high-performance sport
spellingShingle To screen or not to screen? Critical reflections on the use of mental health screening in high-performance sport
Kurtis Pankow
title_short To screen or not to screen? Critical reflections on the use of mental health screening in high-performance sport
title_full To screen or not to screen? Critical reflections on the use of mental health screening in high-performance sport
title_fullStr To screen or not to screen? Critical reflections on the use of mental health screening in high-performance sport
title_full_unstemmed To screen or not to screen? Critical reflections on the use of mental health screening in high-performance sport
title_sort To screen or not to screen? Critical reflections on the use of mental health screening in high-performance sport
author_id_str_mv fefaac12947ce639c98ee81f632c5686
author_id_fullname_str_mv fefaac12947ce639c98ee81f632c5686_***_Kurtis Pankow
author Kurtis Pankow
author2 Jolan Kegelaers
Paul Wylleman
Damien Brevers
Kurtis Pankow
Göran Kenttä
format Journal article
container_title Psychology of Sport and Exercise
institution Swansea University
doi_str_mv 10.1016/j.psychsport.2026.103146
publisher Elsevier
college_str Faculty of Science and Engineering
hierarchytype
hierarchy_top_id facultyofscienceandengineering
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Science and Engineering
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofscienceandengineering
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Science and Engineering
department_str School of Engineering and Applied Sciences - Sport and Exercise Sciences{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Science and Engineering{{{_:::_}}}School of Engineering and Applied Sciences - Sport and Exercise Sciences
document_store_str 0
active_str 0
description Mental health screening has rapidly gained prominence within sport organisations as an important mental health initiative, to identify individuals at risk and facilitate early intervention. Despite growing policy endorsement and institutional uptake, the empirical and ethical foundations underpinning mental health screening in sport have received limited critical scrutiny. The present paper, therefore, provides a critical narrative review to examine the conceptual, empirical, and ethical foundations of mental health screening in sport. We first provide a concise overview of what is meant by mental health screening in the context of high-performance sport, followed by a discussion of the rationale behind its use. We then critically examine the available evidence, structured around four key areas: (a) the predictive validity of existing screening instruments, (b) implementation and feasibility considerations, (c) the effectiveness of mental health screening programmes, and (d) potential harms and unintended consequences associated with screening. We conclude the paper by offering our recommendations on the conditions under which mental health screening may be considered, as well as situations in which alternative approaches may be more appropriate.
published_date 0001-01-01T07:03:34Z
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score 11.333011

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