A Comparison of Levels of Quality of Life, Depression and Loneliness among Athletes with Different Levels of Training.

The purpose of this study is to compare the levels of life quality, depression and loneliness among the students of the Faculty of Sports Sciences (FSS), national wrestlers and non national wrestlers in terms of some demographic variables. The participants of the study included 37 students from the Faculty of Sports Sciences of Ondokuz Mayis University, 40 wrestlers in national team and 36 wrestlers who are not in the national team. The data was collected through a “Demographic Information Form” developed by the researchers and “Whoqol Bref Quality of Life Scale” (KF 36) to determine the quality of life, “Beck Depression Scale’’ to determine the levels of depression and “UCLA Loneliness Scale” to determine the levels of loneliness. Quality of life, loneliness and depression levels were examined between different level subjects, between gender and between under and upper 20 years subjects. Kruskal Wallis and Mann Whitney-U test were used for the statistical analysis of the data. It was found that the wrestlers who were not national athletes had higher loneliness and depression levels and lower social domain scores than those of the national wrestlers and students of the Faculty of Sport Sciences (p<0.0167). Female participants were found to have higher loneliness levels and lower social domain scores than male participants. All the participants under 20 were found to have lower social domain scores and higher loneliness levels than the participants over 20 (p<0.05). The wrestlers in the national team experienced less loneliness than the wrestlers who were not in the national team. This result indicates the significance of having a successful sportive identity in terms of loneliness. Within this context, it will be of use for trainers to give importance to activities and trainings that will contribute to a successful identity formation. Key - words: Depression, loneliness, quality of life, wrestler.