How Are The Pressures of NIL And Social Media Impacting Student-Athlete Mental Health — And Are Universities Prepared For It?
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How Might Social Media and the Pressures to Earn NIL Income Impact a Student-Athlete's Mental Health? And Are Universities Prepared For It? (Part II of II)
Executive Summary
An NCAA Survey of Student-Athletes conducted in Fall 2020 confirmed that student-athletes were reporting elevated rates of mental exhaustion, anxiety, hopelessness, and feelings of being depressed.
“Financial concerns” ranked in the top 4 of most cited concerns by student-athletes participating in the NCAA’s Fall 2020 survey – a survey that pre-dated the start of NIL by several months.
Psychiatrists have said teens constantly comparing themselves with peers on social media will instill self-doubt.
Recent uptick of college student suicides led to Stanford University researches coining the term “Duck Syndrome” which refers to the way a duck appears to glide effortlessly across a pond while below the surface its feet work frantically, invisibly struggling to stay afloat.
There are many well-chronicled examples of pro athletes with newfound wealth also facing family pressures to get at their money.
Student-Athlete Mental Health Increasingly Strained Due to Pandemic, per NCAA Report.
In the NCAA's Fall 2020 Mental Health survey, student-athletes reported elevated rates of mental exhaustion, anxiety, hopelessness and feelings of being depressed, in addition to the ongoing stress from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mental health concerns remained highest among demographic subgroups typically displaying higher rates of mental distress (women, student-athletes of color, those on the queer spectrum, those living alone or away from campus, and those reporting family economic hardship). The survey also found that student-athletes in their senior year and those attending classes in a fully virtual capacity also displayed heightened mental health concerns. In most instances, the rates of reported mental health concerns experienced within the month leading into the survey were 1.5-two times higher than have been historically reported by NCAA student-athletes in pre-pandemic studies.
Respondents noted academic worries (43%), lack of access to sport (33%), COVID-19 health concerns (31%) and financial worries (24%) as the top factors negatively impacting their mental health. Many student-athletes of color cited personal experiences of racism or racial trauma within the month leading into the survey as negatively impacting their mental health, with Black student-athletes reporting such instances more than twice that of other athletes of color (31% and 13%, respectively).
Image is Everything – Even Among Your Friends Group
According to Childmind.org, magazines and advertising have long been criticized for upholding dangerously unrealistic standards of success and beauty— at least the industry acknowledged that these standards are idealized. The models wearing Size 0 clothing are just that: models. And even they are made-up, retouched, and photo-shopped.
These days, however, those impossible standards are set much closer to home— not by celebrities and models but by classmates and friends. With social media, teens can curate their lives, with the resulting feeds reading like highlight reels that show only the best and most enviable moments while concealing efforts, struggles or even ordinary aspects of day-to-day life. And there’s evidence that those images are causing distress for many kids.
“Look,” says Sasha, a 16-year-old junior in high school, scrolling slowly through her Instagram feed. “See: pretty coffee, pretty girl, cute cat, beach trip. It’s all like that. Everyone looks like they’re having the best day ever, all the time.”
Donna Wick, EdD, founder of Mind-to-Mind Parenting, says that for teenagers the combined weight of vulnerability, the need for validation, and a desire to compare themselves with peers forms what she describes as a “perfect storm of self-doubt.”
Sometimes, says Sasha, looking at friends’ feeds “makes you feel like everyone has it together but you.”
The fallout from these unrealistic standards becomes more dangerous once kids reach college, where they face higher stakes, harder work, and a largely parent-free environment. The pressure to look perfect to impress new peers (let alone friends and family back home) can be even greater.
After a recent spate of suicides among college students, researchers at Stanford University coined the phrase “duck syndrome.” The term refers to the way a duck appears to glide effortlessly across a pond while below the surface its feet work frantically, invisibly struggling to stay afloat.
Teens who have created idealized online personas may feel frustrated and depressed when contemplating the gap between who they pretend to be online and who they truly are.
“If you practice being a false self eight hours a day, it gets harder to accept the less-than-perfect being you really are,” says Dr. Wick, “and as we all know there’s no harsher judge of a kid than herself.”
One Student-Athlete’s NIL Success Could Fuel Negative Consequences for Other Student-Athletes Seeing little Demand for Their NIL
By definition, a student-athlete’s self-image is directly tied to their NIL – after all, NIL is their own, unique name, image, likeness. As previously noted, practitioners have highlighted the challenges to an individual’s mental health when they are “keeping up with the Joneses” on social media. Dr. Jill Emanuele, PhD, a clinical psychologist at the Child Mind Institute, reports that a problem for some teens is that their social feeds can become fuel for negative feelings they have about themselves. Kids struggling with self-doubt read into their friends’ images what they themselves feel they are lacking.
“Kids view social media through the lens of their own lives,” says Dr. Emanuele. “If they’re struggling to stay on top of things or suffering from low self-esteem, they’re more likely to interpret images of peers having fun as confirmation that they’re doing badly compared to their friends.” Taking that more quantitatively, a student-athlete seeing a teammate land a $10,000 NIL endorsement deal may not feel enthused for their friend when their own NIL activity income has been paltry or even non-existent.
Recommendations from Health Practitioners on Navigating Social Media Consumption by Teens - An Important Insight to Supporting Today's Teen and Tomorrow's College Athlete.
Take social media seriously. Don’t underestimate the role social media plays in the lives of teenagers, warns Dr. Wick. “The power of a visual image is so strong. It’s disorienting.” Many teens, she says, never knew a world where social media didn’t exist, and for them the things that happen online—slights, break-ups, likes, or negative comments—are very real. When you talk about social media make sure you’re really listening and be careful not to dismiss or minimize your teen’s experiences.
Model a healthy response to failure. “Kids have to get the message that it is okay to fail,” says Dr. Wick. “And not only that it’s okay to fail, but that showing it is okay, too.” If parents hide their own failures, kids are less likely to be okay with anything less than success. “When things don’t work out as you’d planned or a project goes awry, show your child how to accept it with grace,” she adds. “Let kids know that failure is part of how we learn to succeed, that it’s nothing to be ashamed of and let them see you pick yourself up and try again.”
Praise (and show) effort. “Effort is something to be proud of,” says Dr. Wick. “It can’t be said enough.” Parents should let kids know that showing their work is something to be praised, not hidden. When your child has worked hard on something, praise her efforts no matter what the outcome. It’s also helpful to examine how comfortable you are showing your own efforts, especially those that don’t end in success. Being proud and open about your own work sets a powerful example for your child.
The Storied Financial Downfalls of Pro Athletes Offer Lessons for College Athletes, too
In an op-ed piece for CNBC, former NBA player and current financial advisor Chris Dudley reflected on the variety of pressures and "opportunities" presented to him and his pro teammates over his 16-year career that often equated to ill-advised investments that made money disappear.
Undoubtably, the earning power of most college athletes won't mirror the salaries earned by top pro athletes. But Dudley's key guidance for sound money management could easily translate to college athletes (especially as many of them will hit their peak NIL learning potential while in college). As such, amplifying financial literacy education for student-athletes is a consensus priority for policy-makers at the state, federal and NCAA levels.
Dudley noted that sixty percent of NBA players go broke within five years of departing the league while 78 percent of former NFL players experience financial distress two years after retirement. Most earnings for professional athletes are compressed into just a handful of years and a "Keeping up with the Joneses" mentality can be financially fatal for newly rich athletes. The short time frame for earning gigantic salaries in pro sports certainly could provide a parallel to the brief four to five year window in which a popular college athlete could financially leverage his or her NIL before moving out of the college athletics limelight altogether.
Dudley noted: "The simple truth is they won’t have the opportunity to make money like this again. That’s difficult for a young person to recognize when in the midst of living a dream. There are so many ways it can disappear: friends, family, lifestyle and constant pitches for can’t-miss opportunities." The hard financial lessons learned by pro athletes who go from rags to riches back to rags could also, in a modest way, be similarly experienced by college athletes, too, especially if we consider the embedded pressures from family members to earn additional cash while a college athlete is at their athletics and popularity zenith.
Summary
The NIL era for college athletes is less than a month old. Our knowledge about the NIL landscape will continue to evolve from multiple angles---the regulatory side, marketplace and consumer demands, time and attention for the student-athlete, and ancillary issues like taxes.
The emotional and mental-health impacts NIL activities (or lack thereof) may have on college athletes is not quantifiable this early in the game, but early indications point to the need to take seriously the dynamic of social media, both in terms of peer-jealousy among teammates and negative self-worth tied to one’s NIL.
University leaders would be well-served to examine how mental health practitioners and counselors on their campus are involved in interdisciplinary educational outreach and support services available to student-athletes navigating NIL. Does your institution's athletics department have mental health practitioners available to student-athletes? Are student-athletes on your campus learning about managing their own expectations around NIL? What life skills programming does your institution offer to student-athletes about not letting social media over influence their self-image and worth? How are student-athletes learning to manage financial pressure from family members?
The early NIL headlines are wrapped around the fortunate few who have landed significant NIL deals. The campus-level attention, though, could be well-served to focus on those sitting on the sidelines and not busy transacting.
Athletics Veritas is presented for information purposes only and should not be considered advice or counsel on NCAA compliance matters. For guidance on NCAA rules and processes, always consult your university’s athletics compliance office, conference office, and/or the NCAA.
