Associations between duration of participation in four sports categories and academic and psychosocial adjustment in adolescence

Résumé 0

This study examines the links between duration of participation in four sports categories from ages 13 to 17—collision team, low-contact team, individual, and aesthetic sports—and academic and psychosocial adjustment at age 17. A sample of 228 adolescents (67% males) displaying a high level of externalizing problems at age 5 based on teacher and parent ratings, placing them at risk of later adjustment problems, was assessed. Sports participation was collected once, during the last year of secondary school, using a retrospective assessment. Adolescents identified the organized sports in which they previously participated in each year of secondary school and reported their educational aspirations, internalizing/externalizing problems, alcohol use, and prosocial behaviors. Covariates included sex, family income, parental education, and baseline levels of adjustment collected in elementary school. Collision team sports were associated with lower levels of internalizing problems and higher levels of alcohol use. Aesthetic sports were associated with higher levels of prosocial behaviors. Low-contact team sports were associated with higher educational aspirations, particularly for adolescents from lower/middle-income families. Possible explanations based on the subcultures of sports categories are suggested.