MeFraMe-Studie

Media framing of the mental health of professional athletes

01/01/2023 to 31/12/2025

The increased prioritization of mental wellbeing alongside physical health in the Western World illustrates
recent improvements in awareness of mental illness. Unfortunately, seeking help and finding support can
be especially challenging in environments that promote the superiority of mental toughness such as
professional sports. Professional athletes are constantly scrutinized by an array of stakeholders, starting
with the way they are portrayed in the media. The persisting fear of stigmatization that these athletes share
is validated in the continuingly negative image that the media paints of persons experiencing mental illness.
We know that mass media have the power to influence attitudes and behaviors of their audience, as the
population’s perception depends, in part, on how a given issue such as mental illness in elite athletes is
framed. Thus, the way in which mental illness in elite sports is depicted in the media may both promote and
impede help-seeking in elite athletes as well as the general population. It is therefore our intention to
explore whether media language surrounding mental illness particularly in professional athletes is following
a positive trend in the long term.
To this end, our project aims to investigate depictions of mental illness in German professional athletes by
the German media. We seek to identify the frames used in media reports covering mental illness of athletes
since the suicide of German national keeper Robert Enke in 2009. We will be focusing on the most popular
sports in Germany, namely Soccer and Olympic sports. We will then conduct an experimental survey study
to measure the impact of the identified media frames on attitudes toward mental illness among the general
population and specifically athletic reference persons.