Conference on Mental Health and Competitive Sports: Breaking Stigmas and Promoting Well-Being
The Research Group in Sports Psychology, currently integrated into the Research Group in Social Sciences of Sport, participated in the conference on mental health in competitive sports held at CAR Sant Cugat. This event was promoted by the Department of Sports of the Generalitat de Catalunya on March 19, 2025.
Mental health is an essential element in improving sports performance and creating a healthy and sustainable environment for athletes and their development as individuals.
The need to address mental health holistically and preventively, not only when an athlete presents an issue, was one of the key messages with which Abel García, Secretary General of the Department of Sports, opened the conference.
Yago Ramis, coordinator of the Research Group in Social Sciences of Sport, kicked off the expert presentations with a keynote speech, defining the conceptual framework of mental health. He focused on the relationship between well-being, competitive stress, and mental disorders, as well as the prevalence of mental health issues among athletes.
The second section of the conference focused on promoting safe environments and preventing distress, with contributions from Miquel Torregrossa, co-coordinator of the Sports Psychology Research Group at UAB, and Susana Regüela, head of the Athletic Career Support Unit at CAR and a researcher at the Institute. They engaged with over 100 attendees to identify key elements in mental health promotion and prevention within the sports entourage. This section also featured Sònia Soriano, a sports and clinical psychologist, who shared her professional experience in diagnosing and treating high-performance athletes.
Marta Borrueco, researcher at IRE, moderated a roundtable discussion featuring elite swimming representatives, offering a multifaceted perspective from both the athletes and their close support systems. Participants included Berta Ferreras, former member of the Spanish national artistic swimming team; Marc Tribulietx, development coach and trainer at the Catalan Swimming Federation (FCN); and Eugeni Ballarín, technical director of the FCN.
In the closing remarks, delivered by Berni Álvarez, Minister of Sports, he emphasized the significant role mental health will play in the new Catalan Sports and Physical Activity Law.
The event, hosted by Laia Bertran, member of GEPE and the Institute, is part of a longitudinal research project that has been developed for over ten years by the Sports Psychology Research Group at UAB, in collaboration with the High-Performance Center of Sant Cugat, through research projects funded by both national and European competitive grants.