Impacts of Sports on Self-Esteem and Well-Being

The impact of sports on the self-esteem and happiness of a person is profound. Sports bring people together in a spirit of competition, and while the competition may be for something as petty as a parking spot or as intractable as a championship title, the competition and camaraderie that results make the game more fun than the competition itself. In short, participating in sports leads to happiness.

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But the happiness does not only come from winning, either. Winning causes euphoria, but the euphoria wears off rather quickly, leaving behind defeat and defeatist sentiments. There are few sports that have the longevity and complexity that sports have in the modern world. As a result, there is an economic impact of sports on society that directly effects the leisure, recreation, and livelihood of millions of people.

For example, during adolescence, the hormonal changes that occur trigger a chemical and biological imbalance that causes dramatic and often life-altering changes in the brain and body. While the overwhelming majority of adolescents actively participate in sports, the impact of sports on their lives is stunted by the sudden and drastic transition from adolescence to adulthood. During this transition, the level of physical activity dramatically decreases, as does the amount of energy, focus, and other resources that were dedicated to sports throughout the high school and college years. The result is a decline in academic performance, socialization, and other aspects of adulthood.

This change is especially apparent in teenagers who have traditionally enjoyed a higher self-esteem and better work/homelife balance. As their sport activity declines, their self-esteem and sense of personal worth decrease correspondingly. A study of young adults found that the decrease in physical activity and increase in sedentary behaviors was partially responsible for the decline in marriage rates and teenage pregnancy. Likewise, the study of African American teens found that the sport they participated in had a negative impact on their self-esteem and confidence, as well as a negative impact on their academic performance. It was common to find that the athletes exhibited lower test scores were correlated with increased drop-out rates from college.

Many school districts are now working hard to provide adequate physical education and encourage athletic activity. Unfortunately, this effort tends to focus on flag football and very little else. The result is that many students are left out of physical education classes and given excessive amounts of academic credit in order to satisfy the requirements of their sport. In turn, these students suffer from lower grades and often fail courses.

The current study takes a different approach. The authors instead examined the impact of gipladottir et al on emotional well-being and mental health. Specifically, the authors asked individuals who did not participate in any sports but regularly engage in physical activity (e.g., basketball players, cheerleaders, tennis players) about their experiences during the week. Surprisingly, the authors discovered that individuals who participated in sport participation were better able to cope with daily stressors and had higher levels of well-being than non participates. The authors suggested that gipladottir may be particularly effective for adolescents who are highly invested in sport but struggle with life stressors because of their persistent reliance on sport as a source of emotional escape.

In addition to the authors' previous study, this new research is important in another way. The authors examined whether the addition of gipladottir to the sports people participate in has an impact on the development of self-esteem and their ability to handle stress. In their previous study, the same study found that increased sport participation was positively associated with increased cortisol levels in women, which can lead to increased levels of depression in some individuals. The researchers found that there was a trend for women to report a greater amount of depression than a control group, which is a noteworthy finding since women are usually thought to be better at handling stress than men.

What does this mean for those struggling with self-esteem issues or those seeking treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder? Overall, the research finds that sport participation is not related to increased cortisol levels, which means that there is no clear link between sports participation and depression. However, there was a trend for those participating in contact sports to report more severe mood disorders than a control group, such as those who did not participate in sports. Sport participants were found to have higher rates of major depression, social anxiety, and other mood disorders than non-participating women. The authors suggested that future studies should examine the impact of sport on the attitudes and health of teenagers, in order to determine if there is a relationship between the two and how to address it.