How do different sports affect children's mental health?

Researchers at California State University conducted a large-scale study of American children and adolescents and found that participation in team sports is associated with less mental health difficulties, but that children who participate exclusively in individual sports - such as tennis or wrestling - may have more mental health difficulties than children who do not play sports at all.

Matt Hoffmann of California State University, USA, and colleagues reported the findings in the journal PLOS ONE.

In the new study, Hoffmann and colleagues analyzed data on the sports habits and mental health of 11,235 children ages 9 to 13. Parents and caregivers reported several aspects of their children's mental health by completing a form known as the "Child Behavior Checklist." Researchers looked for any associations between mental health data and children's sports habits, and also considered other factors that may affect mental health, such as family income and overall physical activity.

The analysis showed that children who participated in team sports were less likely to show signs of anxiety, depression, withdrawal, social problems and attention problems.

The researchers also expected that individual sports would be associated with less mental health difficulties, although less so than team sports. Instead, however, they found that children who played exclusively individual sports tended to have more mental health difficulties than those who did not play sports at all.

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