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Positive Self-Beliefs as a Mediator of the Relationship Between Adolescents’ Sports Participation and Health in Young Adulthood

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Abstract

The present study examined the relationship between participation in sports during adolescence and physical activity and subjective health in young adulthood. A sample of 8,152 (males = 50.8%, females = 49.2%) adolescents from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health were used. Results of the study showed that participating in an organized sport during adolescence was associated with higher levels of physical activity and better subjective health during young adulthood after controlling for participation in general physical activities (e.g., jogging, biking, skateboarding) during adolescence. Participation in sports during adolescence was associated with more positive self-beliefs 1 year later that, in turn, were associated with higher levels of moderate to vigorous physical activity and better subjective health 6 years later. Results suggest that positive self-beliefs partially mediate the relationship between adolescents’ participation in sports and two health outcomes in young adulthood: moderate to vigorous physical activity and subjective health. Findings highlight the utility of youths’ participation in organized sports for promoting healthy outcomes. Implications for policy and practice are discussed.

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Notes

  1. We thank an anonymous reviewer for pointing out this possibility.

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Acknowledgments

This research uses data from Add Health, a program project designed by J. Richard Udry, Peter S. Bearman, and Kathleen Mullan Harris, and funded by a grant P01-HD31921 from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, with cooperative funding from 17 other agencies. Special acknowledgment is due Ronald R. Rindfuss and Barbara Entwisle for assistance in the original design. Persons interested in obtaining data files from Add Health should contact Add Health, Carolina Population Center, 123 W. Franklin Street, Chapel Hill, NC 27516-2524 (addhealth@unc.edu). No direct support was received from grant P01-HD31921 for this analysis.

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  1. Department of Psychology, Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY, USA

    Tonya Dodge

  2. Department of Psychology, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA

    Sharon F. Lambert

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  1. Tonya Dodge
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  2. Sharon F. Lambert
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Correspondence to Tonya Dodge.

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Dodge, T., Lambert, S.F. Positive Self-Beliefs as a Mediator of the Relationship Between Adolescents’ Sports Participation and Health in Young Adulthood. J Youth Adolescence 38, 813–825 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-008-9371-y

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