Original articleSchool Sport Participation During Adolescence and Mental Health in Early Adulthood
Section snippets
Methods
Data were drawn from the Nicotine Dependence in Teens study, an ongoing prospective cohort study of 1,293 students (52% female) that recruited from grade 7 classes in 1999 in a convenience sample of 10 secondary schools in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Schools were specifically chosen to represent a range of geographic locations (urban, suburban, and rural), languages (French and English), and socioeconomic status. In-school self-report questionnaires were administered every 3 months during the
Results
Of the 880 participants who completed survey cycle 21, 853 provided complete data on the variables of interest and were therefore included in the analytic sample. Participants (54% female) had a mean age of 20.4 years, and 6% reported a mood disorder diagnosis (Table 1). On average, participants engaged in school sport during 2 of the 5 years of secondary school.
Depressive symptoms were positively correlated with perceived stress (r = .46, p = .01) and negatively correlated with self-rated
Discussion
We investigated the association between school sport participation during secondary school and each of depressive symptoms, perceived stress, and self-rated mental health measured 3 years after graduation from secondary school. Our hypothesis was supported in that school sport participation was statistically significantly associated with all three mental health indicators, while controlling for extracurricular sport participation and sociodemographic characteristics. These findings extend the
Funding Sources
The Nicotine Dependence in Teens Study is funded by the Canadian Cancer Society (grant numbers 010271 and 017435). J.O.L. holds a Canada Research Chair in the Early Determinants of Adult Chronic Disease.
References (36)
- et al.
The prevalence, clinical relevance, and public health significance of subthreshold depressions
Psychiatr Clin North Am
(2002) - et al.
Association between leisure time physical activity and stress, social support and coping: A cluster-analysis approach
Psychol Sport Exerc
(2007) - et al.
Natural course of adolescent major depressive disorder: I. Continuity into young adulthood
J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry
(1999) - et al.
The association between past and current physical activity and depressive symptoms in young adults: A 10-year prospective study
Ann Epidemiol
(2013) - et al.
The sensitivity and specificity of the Major Depression Inventory, using the Present State Examination as the index of diagnostic validity
J Affect Disord
(2001) - et al.
Prevalence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease among those with serious mental illness
Am J Psychiatry
(2004) - et al.
Medical comorbidity in bipolar disorder: Implications for functional outcomes and health service utilization
Psychiatr Serv
(2006) - et al.
Examining minor and major depression in adolescents
J Child Psychol Psychiatry
(2005) - et al.
Depressed adolescents grown up
JAMA
(1999) - et al.
Aerobic fitness and leisure physical activity as moderators of the stress-illness relation
Ann Behav Med
(1999)
Gender differences and risk factors for depression in adolescence: A 4-year longitudinal study
Int J Behav Dev
Development of depression from preadolescence to young adulthood: Emerging gender differences in a 10-year longitudinal study
J Abnorm Psychol
The Chief Public Health Officer's report on the State of Public Health in Canada
Physical activity dose-response effects on outcomes of depression and anxiety
Med Sci Sports Exerc
Physical activity and depression
Mt Sinai J Med
Physical self-concept and self-esteem mediate cross-sectional relations of physical activity and sport participation with depression symptoms among adolescent girls
Health Psychol
Naturally occurring changes in physical activity are inversely related to depressive symptoms during early adolescence
Psychosom Med
Cited by (142)
Team and individual sport participation, school belonging, and gender differences in adolescent depression
2024, Children and Youth Services ReviewMedia's Effect on Athletes' Mental Health
2024, Clinics in Sports MedicineSports participation, frequency, and competence differentially impact youth depressive, anxious, and somatic symptoms: Gender, neighborhood, and sports type effects
2023, Mental Health and Physical ActivityYouth Team Sports Participation Associates With Reduced Dimensional Psychopathology Through Interaction With Biological Risk Factors
2023, Biological Psychiatry Global Open ScienceAssociation between sports participation and overall health in children and adolescents
2023, Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice
Conflicts of Interest: The authors have no conflicts of interest or financial disclosures to report.