Background: Sport has been shown to be effective both in treating symptoms of major depression
and raising hardiness but it is still underutilized in clinical practice. Aim: This study aimed to
investigate the relation between, psychological hardiness and depression among the athlete students
versus non-athletes. Design: It was a causative comparative and correlational study in terms of
descriptive designs. Setting: It was carried out at faculty of Nursing and faculty of Physical
Education at Assiut University. Subjects: Simple random sample composed of 218 non-athlete
university female students and 218 athlete university female students. Tools: The study’s
questionnaire consisted of three parts; involving demographic data, Beck depression inventory (BDI)
to measure the degree of depression, and Kobasa hardiness questionnaire (KHQ) to measure
hardiness. Results: The result conveyed that non-athlete females under study had lower depression
scores than athlete females with no statistical significant differences. Also, there were significant
differences between athletic and non-athletic females as regard to total psychological hardiness all
subscale except for commitment subscale. Conclusion: Athlete female students under study had
higher psychological hardiness mean scores than non-athletes with higher statistical significant
differences & depression mean score with no statistical significant difference. Recommendations:
The important of practicing sport to improve psychological hardiness and mental health wellbeing.
Key Word: Psychological hardiness, Sport, Athletes, Depression symptoms, Female students.