{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,12]],"date-time":"2026-03-12T04:04:25Z","timestamp":1773288265233,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":53,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"10","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,10,14]],"date-time":"2021-10-14T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1634169600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Brain Sciences"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The purpose of this article was to systematically review and organise the available literature devoted to the topic of depressive symptoms and burnout in football players. A systematic search was conducted in Web of Science, Scopus, SPORTdiscus, PubMed, and Psychinfo for articles published up to June 2020. The searches yielded 1589 articles, and after the screening process, a total of 18 studies met the eligibility criteria and were included for review. Playing position and conflicts with coach\/management seems to have a direct influence on the prevalence of depressive symptoms in current players as do the injuries and life events of former players. During the pre-competition phase, most of the athletes displayed reduced rates, indicating burnout. An exploration of the mental health of football players will help to create models of care and guide professionals so that they may help players achieve better performance while also having better wellbeing. Understanding how to prevent and cope with the emotional wellbeing of football players will be possible to guide players and coaches.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/brainsci11101351","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,10,14]],"date-time":"2021-10-14T09:10:49Z","timestamp":1634202649000},"page":"1351","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":22,"title":["Depressive Symptoms and Burnout in Football Players: A Systematic Review"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"11","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8681-0642","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Hugo","family":"Sarmento","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Coimbra, Research Unit for Sport and Physical Activity, Faculty of Sport Sciences and Physical Education, 3040-256 Coimbra, Portugal"},{"name":"Center for Innovative Care and Health Technology, Polytechnic of Leiria, 2411-901 Leiria, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1253-7660","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Roberta","family":"Frontini","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Center for Innovative Care and Health Technology, Polytechnic of Leiria, 2411-901 Leiria, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9850-7771","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Adilson","family":"Marques","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"CIPER, Faculdade de Motricidade Humana, Universidade de Lisboa, 1499-002 Lisbon, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6072-6012","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Miguel","family":"Peralta","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"CIPER, Faculdade de Motricidade Humana, Universidade de Lisboa, 1499-002 Lisbon, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5590-7406","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Nestor","family":"Ordo\u00f1ez-Saavedra","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Health Sciences, Sports Science Program, University of Applied and Environmental Sciences, Bogota 111166, Colombia"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7536-9780","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jo\u00e3o Pedro","family":"Duarte","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Coimbra, Research Unit for Sport and Physical Activity, Faculty of Sport Sciences and Physical Education, 3040-256 Coimbra, Portugal"},{"name":"Center for Innovative Care and Health Technology, Polytechnic of Leiria, 2411-901 Leiria, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6956-0514","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ant\u00f3nio","family":"Figueiredo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Coimbra, Research Unit for Sport and Physical Activity, Faculty of Sport Sciences and Physical Education, 3040-256 Coimbra, Portugal"},{"name":"Center for Innovative Care and Health Technology, Polytechnic of Leiria, 2411-901 Leiria, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2148-3534","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Maria Jo\u00e3o","family":"Campos","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Coimbra, Research Unit for Sport and Physical Activity, Faculty of Sport Sciences and Physical Education, 3040-256 Coimbra, Portugal"},{"name":"Center for Innovative Care and Health Technology, Polytechnic of Leiria, 2411-901 Leiria, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9813-2842","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Filipe Manuel","family":"Clemente","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Escola Superior Desporto e Lazer, Instituto Polit\u00e9cnico de Viana do Castelo, 4960-320 Viana do Castelo, Portugal"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,10,14]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"907","DOI":"10.1007\/s40279-017-0851-7","article-title":"Talent Identification and Development in Male Football: A Systematic Review","volume":"48","author":"Sarmento","year":"2018","journal-title":"Sports Med."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"25","DOI":"10.2478\/gp-2018-0001","article-title":"Football does not improve mental health: A systematic review on football and mental health disorders","volume":"1","author":"Heun","year":"2018","journal-title":"Glob. 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