The Impact of Minority Stress and Social Polarization on Mental Well-Being and Functioning in the Sporting Environment

Background: Sport occupies an ambivalent position in mental health scholarship, serving both as a resource for well-being and as a setting in which structural stigma, interpersonal prejudice, and chronic stressors may converge to produce psychological harm. Minority stress theory and emerging work on affective polarization may offer complementary lenses for understanding how social conditions translate into individual outcomes among athletes from sexual, gender, and racial minority backgrounds. Aim: This narrative review aimed to synthesize the available literature on minority stress, social polarization, and mental well-being and functioning within sporting environments, with attention to conceptual foundations, empirical findings, mediators, and intervention possibilities. Material and Methods: Peer-reviewed sources spanning minority stress theory, structural stigma, affective polarization, sport psychiatry, and elite sport mental health frameworks were appraised qualitatively for thematic relevance and applicability to sporting contexts. Results: Minority stressors may be associated with depression, anxiety, disordered eating, sleep disturbance, and altered physiological stress responses among athletes. Social polarization appears to interact with stigma processes, potentially amplifying their effects through cultural climates, online abuse, and contested policy debates. Protective factors such as social support, adaptive coping, mindfulness, self-compassion, and inclusive environments may moderate some of these effects. Conclusions: Mental health in sport may benefit from an ecologically informed approach attending to individual, interpersonal, organizational, and societal levels. Continued attention to minority stress and polarization seems warranted in research, clinical practice, and sport governance.