The Impact of Smoking on the Mental Health of male Athletes Participating in Official Competitions

Abstract

This study aimed to examine the impact of smoking on mental health among male athletes in Setif in 2025. A total of 139 athletes randomly selected from various official sports events participated in this study. The sample included 29 smokers and 110 nonsmokers, reflecting the typically lower prevalence of smoking in athletic populations. Mental health was assessed using the 28-item version of the Goldberg and Williams scale, translated by Wadi (1999), which measures four key dimensions: severe depression, anxiety and insomnia, psychosomatic health, and social functioning effectiveness. The scale demonstrated good internal consistency, with Cronbach’s alpha values ranging from 0.724 to 0.783 across subscales. Normality of the data was evaluated using the Shapiro-Wilk test, which indicated that most variables deviated from a normal distribution, particularly among nonsmokers. Therefore, the Mann-Whitney U test was used for group comparisons. The results revealed significant differences in severe depression, anxiety, insomnia, and total mental health scores, with non-smokers consistently achieving higher scores than smokers. No significant differences were observed in the effectiveness of psychosomatic and social functioning. This study recommends increasing awareness of the mental health risks of smoking among athletes, particularly regarding mood and sleep. It also suggests that coaches and sports organizations should adopt stricter anti-smoking policies and provide support for athletes who smoke. Further research with a larger and more balanced sample is required to confirm these findings.