Table 1 Studies investigating the psychological and social health benefits of participation in sport for children and/or adolescents
Ref. & Year | Design* | Method | Sample (n) | Country | Age (yrs) | Cohort** | Sex*** | Aim | Sport | Other PA | Theory | Key finding(s) | Psychological, social health outcomes | Score (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
[35] 2011 | Quant. | Long. | 739 | USA | 11-15 & 15-18 | Adol. | B | Explore associations between sport & suicide ideation & attempts | Sport | No sport | - | Youth involved in sport in both middle & high school had lower odds of suicidal ideation than non-sport participants | Fewer suicide attempts | 78 |
[36] 2011 | Qual. | Cross. | 17 parents & 18 Children | Canada | Child. M 13 adults M 45 | Child. & adult | B | Investigate perceptions of benefits of youth sport participation & challenges with providing children with sporting opportunities | Sport | - | Ecological approach, Positive Youth Development | Parents & children reported sport participation associated with a range of personal & social developmental benefits including emotional control & confidence & making new friends, relationships & social skills | Social benefits (relationship with coaches, friends, teamwork/social skills), Personal benefits (emotional control, exploration, confidence) | NA |
[37] 2011 | Quant. | Long. | 208 | Swiss | 7-8 & parents | Child. & parent | B | Investigate role of sport as mediating onset or development of social anxiety | Extracurricular sport | Individual or no sport | Antonovsky’s (1997) Salutogenesis model & Bandura’s (1977)Social Learning theory | Children in team sports reported a reduction in social anxiety | Reduced anxiety | 78 |
[38] 2010 | Quant. | Cross. | 325 | USA | - | Adol. | B | Compare health-related quality of life between athletes (school or club sports) & non-athletes | School or club sport | Non-school or club sport | - | Athletes (school or club sports) reported higher social functioning, mental health & happiness compared with non-athletes | Mental health | 53 |
[39] 2010 | Quant. | Cross. | 31,117 | USA | 6-11 | Child.'s parent | B | Investigate association between participation in out-of-school activities & behaviour | Sport team/lesson & sport club/organisation | No outside school activity | - | Children who participated in sports & clubs had greater social competence during middle childhood compared with children who did not participate in any sports or clubs outside of school activities | Social skills, problem behaviour overall, try to resolve conflicts, show respect for teachers & neighbours | 87 |
[40] 2009 | Quant. | Long. | 1357 | USA | M 11 Wave 1 | Adol. | B | Assess relations among sports participation, other extracurricular activities & indicators of youth development | Sport | Other extracurricular activities | Theory of Positive Youth Development | Participation in a combination of youth & youth development programs related to self-esteem & other positive developmental measures. Youth participating primarily in sports & youth development programs had highest positive youth development scores | Positive Youth Development (competence, confidence, connection, character, caring) | 77 |
[41] 2009 | Quant. | Cross. | 1,711 | USA | 10 to 18 | Child. & youth | B | Compare activity patterns in sports & other types of organised activities for adolescents | Sport | Non sport organised extracurricular activities | Theory of Positive Youth Development | Those who participate in sports had more positive outcomes (including confidence, connections & social well-being) compared with those with little or no involvement in sport but less compared with those who participated in sport plus other activities | Positive youth development, social well-being, school connectedness, | 86 |
[42] 2008 | Quant. | Cross. | 13,857 | USA | 12-18 | Adol. | B | Examine the relative risk of hopelessness & suicidality associated with sport & physical activity participation | Team sport | No sport | - | Sport participation protected against hopelessness & suicide. Social support & integration may account for some of the differences between types of physical activity | Hopelessness, suicidality | 80 |
[43] 2008 | Quant. | Cross. | 3836 | USA | 9th-12th grade | Adol. | B | Explore relationships between physical activity behaviours & emotional self-efficacy | Sport | No sport, other physical activity | - | Playing on sport teams was associated with better emotional self-efficacy | Emotional self-efficacy | 80 |
[44] 2008 | Quant. | Long. | 201 | Canada | 8-11 & Parents | Child. & parents | B | Examine the role of organised sport participation as a moderator of the links between shyness & psychosocial maladjustment in childhood | Sport | no sport | - | Sport participation was positively related to social skills & self-esteem. Shy children who participated in sport reported a significant decrease in anxiety. Benefits of sport participation for children include higher positive affect & well-being & social skills | Assertive, self control, cooperation, self-esteem, positive affect, well-being | 76 |
[45] 2008 | Qual. | Cross. | 55 | USA | Adol. | B | Understand the positive and negative aspects of parental involvement in youth sports | Sport | - | - | Sport builds self-esteem, friendships and a sense of belonging among a team of peers (within a team or competing as an individual against peers). | Self-esteem, friendships, sense of belonging | NA | |
[46] 2006 | Quant. | Cross. | 449 | Canada | 8 th-10th grade | Adol. | B | Test hypothesis that positive team sports involvement mediates the effects of risks on depression | Team sport & positive team sport | Less or no team sport | - | Participation in team sports partially mediated the risks for depressive symptoms | Depressive symptoms | 81 |
[47] 2006 | Quant. | Cross. | 203 | USA | 11-13 | Child. | B | Examine relationship between children’s sport participation & emotional well-being | Sport | Less sport or no sport | - | Sports participation positively associated with self-concept. Greater participation in sports was related to enhanced emotional & behavioural well-being. Athletic competency was related to reduced emotional & behavioural problems | Self-concept, emotional & behavioural wellbeing, perceived competence | 53 |
[48] 2006 | Quant. | Cross. | 382 | Canada | 5th-8th grade | Child. & Adol. | B | Examine the links between sports participation & self-esteem | Sport | Less or no sport | - | Sports participation was related to self-esteem. Physical self-esteem mediates the relationship between sports participation & general self-esteem | Competence, self-esteem | 75 |
[49] 2006 | Quant. | Cross. | 7428 | Switzerland | 16-20 | Adol. | B | Examines socio-demographic & lifestyle correlates of sport participation | Sport | No sport | - | Most active adolescents reported greater well-being than their inactive peers. Sport participants had higher perceived health & life satisfaction | Perceived health, life satisfaction | 87 |
[50] 2004 | Quant. | Long. | 247 | USA | M 13 Wave 1 & M 16 Wave 4 | Adol. | F | Investigated the contribution of team sport to self-esteem development | Team sport achievement | - | - | Sports achievement experiences in early adolescence positively associated with self-esteem in middle adolescence | Self-esteem | 67 |
[51] 2004 | Quant. | Cross. | 4758 | USA | 9th-12th grade | Adol. | B | Explore relationships between perceived life satisfaction & physical activity behaviour | Team sport | No team sport | - | Playing on team sports associated with greater life satisfaction | Life satisfaction | 87 |
[52] 2003 | Quant. | Cross. | 51,168 | USA | 9th grade | Adol. | B | Investigate whether school team sports participation is associated with higher levels of psychosocial functioning & healthy behaviour than other activities | Team sport | Other extracurricular activities | - | Students involved in sport had higher self-image & less emotional distress than students not involved in sport | Emotional distress, suicidal behaviour | 87 |
[53] 2003 | Quant. | Cross. | 450 | USA | 9th-12 grade | Adol. | B | Investigate different developmental & negative experiences in organised youth activities | Sport | Other organised activities | - | Youths in sport activities reported higher rates of managing emotions compared to youth in academic & leadership activities. Youth in sports reported higher rates of self-knowledge, emotional regulation & negative peer interaction | Self-knowledge, emotional regulation, peer interaction | 88 |
[54] 2003 | Quant. | Cross. | 770 | USA | M 16 | Adol. | B | Compare the impact of organised, more intensive sports participation with lower intensity participation among high school student-athletes | Competitive sport participation | Recreation sport participation | - | Competitive sports participation associated with a lower frequency of mental ill-health | Mental health problems | 60 |
[55] 2003 | Quant. | Cross. | 918 | USA | 16-17 | Adol. | B | Examine the participation of adolescents in both constructive, organized & relaxed leisure activities | Sport | Other structured & unstructured activities | - | Youths highly involved in sports were more ‘psychologically resilient” or able to bounce back from problems | Psychological resilience | 67 |
[56] 2002 | Quant. | Cross. | 4632 | USA, Puerto Rica | M 15 | Adol. | B | Test hypothesis that school-based sport is associated with self-esteem & school attachment & a sense of physical wellbeing mediates this relationship | School sport | Less or no school sport | - | Participating in school sport positively related to self-esteem | Self-esteem | 67 |
[57] 2001 | Quant. | Long. | 500 | Germany | 12-18 | Adol. | B | Investigate possible causal relationship between adolescent activity in sports club & improvements in motor ability & psycho-social health | Sports club member | Non-sports club member | Socialization theory & Ecology-oriented approaches | Sport club activities associated with positive psycho-social health (including self-esteem). Girls discover sports as a source of self-esteem earlier than boys | Self-esteem, social interactions | 50 |
[58] 2001 | Quant. | Long. | 1036 | USA | 9th to 11th grade | Adol. | B | Investigate whether sports involvement positively contributes to mental health | Team sport | Less or no team sport | - | Team sport involvement associated with reduced depressed mood | Depressed mood | 67 |
[59] 2001 | Quant. | Long. | 900 | USA | 6th-10th grade initially | Adol. & adult | B | Examined sequel of participation in high school activities & identity group | Team sport | Other extracurricular activities | - | Sport participation protects student athletes against social isolation | Social isolation | 44 |
[60] 2000 | Quant. | Cross. | 89 | USA | M 17 | Adol. | B | Investigated whether sports involvement is related to social & psychological well-being | Sport | No or less sport | - | Moderate sports involvement group had lower depression scores than low sports involvement group | Depression score | 60 |
[61] 2000 | Quant. | Cross. | 1769 | USA | M 16 | Adol. | B | Investigate effects of athletic participation in the development of adolescent mental health patterns | Team sport | No or less sport | - | Sport participation associated with mental health benefits | Mental health | 73 |
[62] 1999 | Quant. | Cross. | 9268 | Switzerl& | 15-20 | Adol. | B | Determine the direction & strength of the associations between frequency of sport & health variables | Sport & club sport | No sport | - | Sport participants had superior well-being (better adjusted, less nervous or anxious, more often full of energy & happy about their life, & less often sad, depressed or desperate, & less suicidal thoughts | Well-being, depressed, suicidal thoughts | 80 |
[63] 1996 | Quant. | Cross. | 5076 | UK | M 16 | Adol. | B | Assessed association between extent of participation in regular sport or vigorous recreational activity & emotional wellbeing | Sport | Less or no sport | - | Sport & vigorous recreational activity participation was positively associated with emotional well-being | Emotional well-being | 75 |
[64] 1993 | Quant. | Long. | 22 | USA | Last 2 years of high school | Adol. | B | Examine the effects of participation in sport during last 2 years of high school | Sport participation | Non sport participation | Coleman's (1959) emphasizing the effects of sport participation for adolescents, & Synder’s (1985) multiple role theory | Sport participation positively associated with post-secondary outcomes of social self concept | Social self-concept | 65 |