{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,6]],"date-time":"2026-01-06T06:39:31Z","timestamp":1767681571161,"version":"3.48.0"},"reference-count":37,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,6]],"date-time":"2026-01-06T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1767657600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100000155","name":"Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["890-2021-0004"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["890-2021-0004"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100000155","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Psychol."],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Mental health challenges have been recognized as factors that can influence sport officials\u2019 ability to perform effectively. For example, 90% of soccer officials believed common mental disorders could negatively affect refereeing performance. Therefore, this study aimed to uncover if mental health affects officiating performance.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      This study used a subjective rating of officiating performance (e.g., positioning, rule application, communication, etc.) and measures of mental health outcomes using the Kessler K10 psychological distress scale and the Warwick-Edinburgh mental wellbeing scale to determine the relationship between mental health and performance. A sample of 274 referees (85% male, 84% Caucasian,\n                      <jats:italic>M<\/jats:italic>\n                      <jats:sub>age<\/jats:sub>\n                      \u202f=\u202f47.3,\n                      <jats:italic>M<\/jats:italic>\n                      <jats:sub>experience<\/jats:sub>\n                      \u202f=\u202f19.0) from Canada Basketball participated in this study.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      A Hierarchical Linear Regression predicting performance from psychological distress and wellbeing, after controlling for experience, was significant [\n                      <jats:italic>F<\/jats:italic>\n                      (3, 235)\u202f=\u202f22.60,\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u202f&amp;lt;\u202f0.001], accounting for 19% of the variation in officials\u2019 performance.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Discussion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>This study demonstrates that the wellbeing of sport officials is a significant predictor of perceived performance, whereas psychological distress does not appear to directly influence performance.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2025.1720108","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,6]],"date-time":"2026-01-06T06:35:26Z","timestamp":1767681326000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Mental health and officiating performance"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"16","author":[{"given":"Nate","family":"Taylor","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"David","family":"Hancock","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Philip","family":"Sullivan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,6]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"102274","DOI":"10.1016\/j.psychsport.2022.102274","article-title":"The impact of verbal and physical abuse on distress, mental health, and intentions to quit in sports officials","volume":"63","author":"Brick","year":"2022","journal-title":"Psychol. 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