Depression and anxiety are mental illnesses which affect a lot of people worldwide. Depression shows as constant sadness, loss of interest in activities which used to bring joy, inability for doing everyday chores and it lasts at least two weeks. Anxiety is a term used to describe a group of mental disorders and it usually shows as excessive fear and worry. Even though physical acitvity improves the mood and well-being, depression and anxiety affect elite athletes as well. They are sometimes even more exposed to certain stressors and risk factors for developing either depression or anxiety. In this masters thesis we have looked at the incidence of depression and anxiety among Slovenian female football players and their peers. We have used Beck's depression inventory, Beck's anxiety inventory and Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale 21 (DASS-21) for testing four hypotheses: incidence of depression and anxiety according to age, education level, physical activity frequency and competitive vs non-competitive group. The sample consisted of 232 subjects. Statistically important differences were found in Beck's depression inventory results among competitive athletes and others and also among two groups of different physical activity frequencies. Levels of depression and anxiety is not determined by level of physical activity or elite sport participation.
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