The Mental Health Game Plan: Prioritizing Suicide Prevention and Mental Health Screening in Collegiate Sports
Suicide rates among college athletes doubled between 2002 and 2022, per University of Washington (UW) researchers Bridget Whelan MPH and Kelly Schloredt PhD, ABPP, in 2024. Although rates of depression, anxiety and suicide have risen among all students, student athletes face unique challenges due to pressures from both school and sport.
In response to these findings, UW Athletics and Forefront Suicide Prevention have partnered to develop a customized suicide prevention program for UW student athletes.
Join us for this webinar in the Forefront speaker series to learn more about the specific suicide risk factors that affect collegiate athletes, and to hear from Dr. Schloredt, and Bridget M. Whelan, as they discuss their 20-year analysis of the issue and what being done to bring attention to collegiate athlete mental health.
After this webinar, you’ll be able to:
- Describe the trends and risk factors associated with suicide among collegiate athletes, based on a 20-year analysis.
- Recognize the unique challenges and pressures collegiate athletes face that may contribute to suicide risk.
- Understand the significance of this suicide prevention training as one of the first programs specifically involving student –athletes, and its potential impact on athlete mental health.
Special thanks to all the organizations that contributed to the work that is presented: UW School of Medicine; UW Department of Family Medicine, Sports Medicine Section; UW Intercollegiate Athletics, Washington State Department of Health.
This event has been approved for 1 CEUs by the Washington Chapter, National Association of Social Workers (NASW) for Licensed Social Workers, Licensed Marriage & Family Therapists and Licensed Mental Health Counselors. Your Provider number is #1975-473
This webinar is part of the series that was produced in partnership with the Washington State Department of Health.
Speaker Bios:
Kelly Schloredt, PhD, ABPP is a Clinical Professor in the Department of Family Medicine, Sports Medicine Section at the University of Washington. She also serves as the Director of Psychological Services for UW Intercollegiate Athletics, leading a team of 5 other psychologists attending to the mental health care needs of approximately 650 D1 NCAA student-athletes. As part of this work, Dr. Schloredt has been instrumental in creating a partnership with Forefront Suicide Prevention to bring the LEARN Saves Lives suicide prevention curriculum to coaches, student-athlete facing staff, and student athletes at the UW. Prior to this, she spent 21 years at Seattle Children’s engaged in a variety of clinical, research, and administrative activities. During this time, she not only served as the Clinical Director of the Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine Unit, but was also an integral member of research teams focused on examining, developing, and adapting treatments for clinical depression in youth, and examining firearm security in families of youth who presented to a pediatric emergency department with mental health concerns. A strong believer in clinical translational research, Dr. Schloredt co-authored a book entitled “Behavioral Activation with Adolescents: A Clinician’s Guide” based on some of the research she participated in and looks forward to the ongoing opportunity to participate in research activities that will directly support the health and well-being of NCAA student-athletes across the US.
Bridget Whelan, MPH, is a Research Scientist in the Department of Family Medicine, Sports Medicine Section at the University of Washington. Her research focuses on suicide prevention, mental health screening, diagnostic accuracy of concussion and mental health assessments, and injury prevention in collegiate sports. She previously served as Director of the Pac-12 Concussion Coordinating Unit, where she oversaw multi-site research initiatives aimed at standardizing data collection and improving athlete safety across the conference. Bridget applies epidemiological methods and data-driven approaches to examine risk factors for mental health challenges in athletes, with the goal of improving early identification and intervention. Her work includes a 20-year analysis of suicide in NCAA athletes, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, as well as research on diagnostic accuracy in concussion assessment and the impact of sports injuries on long-term well-being. Committed to translating research into action, Bridget collaborates with clinicians, athletic organizations, and public health professionals to develop evidence-based strategies that enhance mental health support and care accessibility for athletes.