Relationships Between Youth Sports Participation and Mental Health in Young Adulthood Among Finnish Males

Purpose: To examine whether retrospectively assessed sports participation (SP) and competitive sports (CS) at the age of 12 years is associated with mental health and health behavior in young adulthood among males. Design: A cross-sectional study using self-administered questionnaires. Setting: Conducted prior to compulsory military refresher training course in Finland allowing geographically representative sample of Finnish young men. Participants: Six hundred eighty males aged between 20 and 35 years. Measures: Mental well-being was measured with the short version of Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale and mental distress with 5 items of The Short Form Helalth Survey (SF-36) scale. Analysis: Binary logistic regression models. Results: Sports participation at the age of 12 was associated with better mental health in young adulthood, with both mental well-being (odds ratio [OR] = 1.86, 95% confidence interval 1.11-3.11) and mental distress (OR = 0.61, 0.41-0.90). Age, years of education, and current physical activity were controlled. Higher level of intensity of SP and the level of CS in childhood were associated with lower level of mental distress in adulthood. No association was found between the level of CS in childhood and mental well-being in adulthood. Further, youth SP seemed to be a risk factor for increased alcohol consumption and use of snuff in adulthood. Conclusions: Despite negative outcomes related to health behavior, the findings provide support for the association between youth SP and positive mental health outcomes in adulthood among males.

[1]  R. Layard,et al.  The Key Determinants of Happiness and Misery , 2017 .

[2]  A. Tuulio-Henriksson,et al.  Persistent leisure-time physical activity in adulthood and use of antidepressants: A follow-up study among twins. , 2016, Journal of affective disorders.

[3]  Russell R. Pate,et al.  Systematic review of the relationships between objectively measured physical activity and health indicators in school-aged children and youth. , 2016, Applied physiology, nutrition, and metabolism = Physiologie appliquee, nutrition et metabolisme.

[4]  J. O'Loughlin,et al.  Number of Years of Team and Individual Sport Participation During Adolescence and Depressive Symptoms in Early Adulthood. , 2016, Journal of sport & exercise psychology.

[5]  J. H. Andersen,et al.  The association between leisure time physical activity in adolescence and poor mental health in early adulthood: a prospective cohort study , 2015, BMC Public Health.

[6]  Oili Kettunen.  Effects of physical activity and fitness on the psychological wellbeing of young men and working adults: associations with stress, mental resources, overweight and workability , 2015 .

[7]  A. Bauman,et al.  Don't worry, be happy: cross-sectional associations between physical activity and happiness in 15 European countries , 2015, BMC Public Health.

[8]  J. Cairney,et al.  Sport participation and its association with social and psychological factors known to predict substance use and abuse among youth: A scoping review of the literature , 2015, International review of sport and exercise psychology.

[9]  Peter B. Jones,et al.  Exercise and depressive symptoms in adolescents: a longitudinal cohort study. , 2014, JAMA pediatrics.

[10]  J. O'Loughlin,et al.  School sport participation during adolescence and mental health in early adulthood. , 2014, The Journal of adolescent health : official publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine.

[11]  M. Ferrer,et al.  The Spanish version of the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale (WEMWBS) is valid for use in the general population , 2014, Quality of Life Research.

[12]  G. Faulkner,et al.  Sport participation and alcohol and illicit drug use in adolescents and young adults: a systematic review of longitudinal studies. , 2014, Addictive behaviors.

[13]  George C Patton,et al.  Physical activity, leisure-time screen use and depression among children and young adolescents. , 2014, Journal of science and medicine in sport.

[14]  G. Faulkner,et al.  Physical activity and the prevention of depression: a systematic review of prospective studies. , 2013, American journal of preventive medicine.

[15]  T. Nelson,et al.  Vigorous Physical Activity, Mental Health, Perceived Stress, and Socializing among College Students , 2013, American journal of health promotion : AJHP.

[16]  J. Harvey,et al.  A systematic review of the psychological and social benefits of participation in sport for children and adolescents: informing development of a conceptual model of health through sport , 2013, International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity.

[17]  K. Torén,et al.  Cardiovascular fitness in early adulthood and future suicidal behaviour in men followed for up to 42 years , 2013, Psychological Medicine.

[18]  D. Merkel.  Youth sport: positive and negative impact on young athletes , 2013, Open access journal of sports medicine.

[19]  K. Torén,et al.  Cardiovascular fitness in males at age 18 and risk of serious depression in adulthood: Swedish prospective population-based study. , 2012, The British journal of psychiatry : the journal of mental science.

[20]  Eduardo J Simoes,et al.  To flourish or not: positive mental health and all-cause mortality. , 2012, American journal of public health.

[21]  G. Vaillant.  Positive mental health: is there a cross‐cultural definition? , 2012, World psychiatry : official journal of the World Psychiatric Association.

[22]  T. Nilsen,et al.  Norwegian adolescents, physical activity and mental health: The Young-HUNT study , 2011 .

[23]  J. Viikari,et al.  Sustained Involvement in Youth Sports Activities Predicts Reduced Chronic Job Strain in Early Midlife , 2010, Journal of occupational and environmental medicine.

[24]  P. Schnohr,et al.  A cohort study of leisure time physical activity and depression. , 2010, Preventive medicine.

[25]  Mats Börjesson,et al.  A prospective study of leisure-time physical activity and mental health in Swedish health care workers and social insurance officers. , 2010, Preventive medicine.

[26]  S. Sussman,et al.  Relationship of high school and college sports participation with alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drug use: a review. , 2010, Addictive behaviors.

[27]  J. Gangwisch,et al.  Sports Participation as a Protective Factor Against Depression and Suicidal Ideation in Adolescents as Mediated by Self-Esteem and Social Support , 2009, Journal of developmental and behavioral pediatrics : JDBP.

[28]  J. H. Hoffman,et al.  Mental Well-Being and Sport-Related Identities in College Students. , 2009, Sociology of sport journal.

[29]  A. Tennant,et al.  Internal construct validity of the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (WEMWBS): a Rasch analysis using data from the Scottish Health Education Population Survey , 2009, Health and quality of life outcomes.

[30]  L. Hiller,et al.  The Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (WEMWBS): development and UK validation , 2007, Health and quality of life outcomes.

[31]  E. Bjertness,et al.  The association between weekly hours of physical activity and mental health: A three-year follow-up study of 15–16-year-old students in the city of Oslo, Norway , 2007, BMC public health.

[32]  K. Sher,et al.  Heavy drinking across the transition to college: predicting first-semester heavy drinking from precollege variables. , 2007, Addictive behaviors.

[33]  J. Hoffmann.  Extracurricular Activities, Athletic Participation, and Adolescent Alcohol Use: Gender-Differentiated and School-Contextual Effects∗ , 2006, Journal of health and social behavior.

[34]  Jennifer A. Fredricks,et al.  Extracurricular Involvement and Adolescent Adjustment: Impact of Duration, Number of Activities, and Breadth of Participation , 2006 .

[35]  T. Tonniges,et al.  Introduction: Addressing the Millennial Morbidity—The Context of Community Pediatrics , 2005, Pediatrics.

[36]  F. Penedo,et al.  Exercise and well-being: a review of mental and physical health benefits associated with physical activity , 2005, Current opinion in psychiatry.

[37]  J. Eccles,et al.  Extracurricular Activities and Adolescent Development , 2003 .

[38]  Hans Steiner,et al.  High School Student Athletes: Associations Between Intensity of Participation and Health Factors , 2003, Clinical pediatrics.

[39]  David R. Brown,et al.  Physical activity, sports participation, and suicidal behavior among college students. , 2002, Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise.

[40]  J. Eccles,et al.  Whatever Happened to the Jock, the Brain, and the Princess? , 2001 .

[41]  M. Trivedi,et al.  Physical activity dose-response effects on outcomes of depression and anxiety. , 2001, Medicine and science in sports and exercise.

[42]  C. Sherbourne,et al.  The MOS 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36) , 1992 .

[43]  A. Hagell.  The connections between young people’s mental health and sport participation: Scoping the evidence , 2016 .

[44]  J. O'Loughlin,et al.  The association between past and current physical activity and depressive symptoms in young adults: a 10-year prospective study. , 2013, Annals of epidemiology.