Playing in youth team sports tied to lower rates of depression, anxiety, particularly in boys

Adolescents who experienced adverse events in childhood had better mental health in adulthood if they played sports in their youth, researchers found.

Among individuals with adverse childhood experiences (ACE), those who played team sports in middle school and high school had a significantly lower chance of receiving a diagnosis of depression (propensity score-weighted adjusted odds ratio 0.76, 95% CI 0.59-0.97) or anxiety (PSW aOR 0.70, 95% CI, 0.56-0.89) as adults compared to those who did not play sports, reported Molly Easterlin, MD, of the University of California Los Angeles, and colleagues.

However, there was no significant association between team sport participation in adolescence and current depressive symptoms in adulthood in this population (PSW aOR 0.85, 95% CI 0.71-1.01), the authors wrote in JAMA Pediatrics.

Moreover, for boys with adverse childhood experiences, participation in team sports was linked with lower odds of depression, anxiety, and depressive symptoms in adulthood, while among girls, team sports was only linked to lower odds of anxiety, they noted.

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