A large-scale study of US children and adolescents has found that participation in a team sport is linked to fewer mental health difficulties, but that youngsters who are exclusively involved in an individual sport, like tennis or wrestling, may face greater mental health difficulties than those who do no sports at all.
And interestingly, girls who played both team and individual sports were more likely to engage in rule-breaking behaviour than their non-sports-participating female peers.
Previous research has consistently suggested that youth participation in organised sports might help protect against mental health difficulties. However, some studies have linked youth sports participation to worse mental health, so more detailed research is needed to determine which approaches to sports might be most beneficial.
To shed new light, Matt Hoffmann of California State University and colleagues analysed data on the sports habits and mental health of 11,235 children aged nine to 13. Parents and guardians reported on several aspects of the children’s mental health by filling out a form known as the Child Behaviour Checklist.
The researchers looked for any associations between the mental health data and the kids’ sports habits, while also accounting for other factors that might have an impact on mental health, such as household income and overall physical activity.
In line with the researchers’ expectations, the analysis showed that those involved in team sports were less likely to have signs of anxiety, depression, withdrawal, social problems, and attention problems.
The researchers also expected individual sports to be associated with fewer mental health difficulties, even if to a lesser extent than for team sports. However, they instead found that children who exclusively played individual sports tended to have greater mental health difficulties than those who did not play sports at all. Nonetheless, for girls, participation in both team and individual sports was associated with a lower likelihood of rule-breaking behaviour than non-sports participation.
Overall, these findings add to a growing body of evidence that playing team sports is positively associated with mental health for children and adolescents. The authors suggest that further research could help clarify the link they observed between individual sports and worse mental health difficulties, and longitudinal observations are needed to investigate any causal relationships between sport participation and mental health.
The authors add: “Children and adolescents who played exclusively team sports, like basketball or soccer, had fewer mental health difficulties than those who did not participate in any organised sports. However, to our surprise, youth who participated in only individual sports, such as gymnastics or tennis, had more mental health difficulties than those who did not participate in organised sports.”
Study details
Associations between organised sport participation and mental health difficulties: Data from over 11,000 US children and adolescents
Matt D. Hoffmann, Joel D. Barnes, Mark S. Tremblay, Michelle D. Guerrero
Published in PLOS One on 1 June 2022
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to explore the association between participation in organised sport and a broad array of mental health difficulties among US children and adolescents. The data (cross-sectional) were from Data Release 3.0 (one-year follow-up visits on the full cohort) of the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study—a broadly representative sample of 11,235 US children and adolescents aged 9 to 13 years. Parents/guardians provided self-reports of their child’s mental health difficulties using the Child Behaviour Checklist.
To assess participation in organised sport, children and adolescents were categorised into one of four groups: 1) participation in team sport, 2) participation in individual sport, 3) participation in team and individual sport, and 4) non-sport participation. Participation in team sport compared to non-sport participation was associated with 10% lower anxious/depressed scores, 19% lower withdrawn/depressed scores, 17% lower social problems scores, 17% lower thought problems scores, and 12% lower attention problems scores.
Participation in team sport compared to non-sport participation was also associated with 20% lower rule-breaking behavior scores for females (compared to males). Conversely, participation in individual sport compared to non-sport participation was associated with 16% higher anxious/depressed scores, 14% higher withdrawn/depressed scores, 12% higher social problems scores, and 14% higher attention problems scores. Participation in both team and individual sport compared to non-sport participation was associated with 17% lower rule-breaking behaviour scores for females (compared to males). Results indicate that team sport participation was associated with fewer mental health difficulties, whereas individual sport participation was associated with greater mental health difficulties. The findings complement previous research suggesting that team sport participation may be a vehicle to support child and adolescent mental health.
Additional research is needed to determine to what extent, and under what circumstances, participation in individual sport may be problematic for younger cohorts.
PLOS One article – Team sports linked to fewer mental health difficulties for kids (Open access)
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