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

*Quant. (Quantitative): Qual. (Qualitative): Rev. (Review) ** Adol. (Adolescent): Child. (Children) ***M (Male): F (Female): B (Both Male and Female).