Abstract:

The aim of the research is to determine the anxiety, depression and stress levels of disabled athletes preparing for the Paralympic Games and the effect of gender on these parameters. This study was conducted with 56 athletes who were preparing for the Paralympic Games and data was collected about the sociodemographic characteristics of the athletes such as gender, age, educational status and sports branch. Anxiety, depression, stress levels and gender effect also their relationship to each other were analyzed. State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) for anxiety assessment, Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) for assessment depression, and Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-14) for stress assessment was used. 33 male and 23 female athletes with an average age of 33.32±1.2 participated in this study. It was found that the athletes did not show symptoms of state anxiety, trait anxiety, depression, and stress. There was no significant difference between the scale results of men and women. In addition, it was observed that the state anxiety, trait anxiety, depression and stress parameters were significantly correlated with each other. Preparing for the Paralympic Games have not been observed to have negative effects on the levels of anxiety, depression and stress for athletes.

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