Participating in Sports Can Greatly Increase Mental Well-Being

Question

Sports are a great way for people to release stress and greatly benefit from increased social skills. It gives participants an opportunity to connect with one another and create lasting friendships through a shared passion or activity.

Answer 1

Yes, sports and physical activity, in general, can positively affect mental well-being. One study by the National Library of Medicine found a significant association between sports involvement during adolescence and lower depressive symptoms, lower perceived stress, and higher self-rated mental health in both males and females. The study also revealed how playing sports in one's childhood can lead to greater overall mental fitness later on in life. Sports allow people to participate in physical activity while collaborating with others on a team. Sports schedules also set up routines, and structure can benefit mental well-being. 

This is the link to the study I found: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8656946/#:~:text=Sport%20participation%20and%20exercise%20practice,and%20better%20quality%20of%20life.

Comments

Good job finding a reliable source and breaking down the study and results clearly. My only suggestion would be to find a couple more reliable sources to reaffirm

Answer 2

I agree with this claim! To a certain extent this is opinionated but there are many studies to back this claim up. Besides the article you provided, the National Library of Medicine says that there is a "direct positive correlation between involvement in sport activities during childhood and mental fitness during adolescence", and "A significant association was reported between sport involvement during adolescence and lower depressive symptoms (F = 19.87, p < 0.001), lower perceived stress (F = 14.74, p < 0.001), and higher self-rated mental health (F = 14.65, p < 0.001) in early adulthood [4]." Sports are a great way to release endorphins, be social, and work the body in a healthy way.

Link: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8656946/

Answer 3

After reading this article and cross-checking the information on other sites, I believe this claim to be true. Participating in sports and overall physical activity has been proven to positively boost an individuals mental health. This article by Systematic Reviews includes a lot of great statistics and facts which help support the original claim being made. I found the point when they stated "team-based sports participation, compared to individual sports and informal group physical activity, has a more positive effect on mental energy." This reveals that it is not only the physical activity itself that positively benefits a person, but also being a part of a team and having a community greatly impacts someone's well-being. I found a similar statistic through an article published by WebMD that stated, "Researchers in Australia found that women who played tennis and netball in clubs had better mental health than those who exercised alone, like walking or working out at the gym." This further proves how being on a team results in an increased mental state. WebMD also provided a great statistic which helps back the claim when they stated in their article, "Studies have shown that 20 to 30 minutes of exercise each day can make people feel calmer. This calmness continues several hours after exercise." 

Links:

https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/benefits-of-sports-for-mental-health

Answer 4

Hi there! This claim is definitely true. To start, I really like the source you used, it seems really credible as it mostly has articles that focus on health. I went ahead and did some additional research and found similar information. An article from the National Library of Medicine talks about a study done looking at the correlation between physical and mental health. They found that "Sport participation and exercise practice are considered to be beneficial for mental status, yielding an improved mood and better quality of life." In addition an article from WebMD talks about the ability for participation in sports to help moderate stress, improve your mood, produce long term mental health effects, and more. Great Job!

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8656946/

https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/benefits-of-sports-for-mental-health

Answer 5

I agree with this claim, reading through this article and fact-checking amongst others that provide research and consistent data, they are all in support of this statement and share many benefits to the individual when starting sports at a young age. According to Saybrook University, participating in sports either as an athlete or an amateur can improve the well-being of an individual, including stress reduction, better self-esteem, cognitive enhancement, and mood improvement. A study they used that explored adolescent participation in sports conducted by PLOS ONE states ages 9-13 experience 10% lower anxious/depressed scores, 17% lower social problem scores, and 12% lower attention problem skills. By sticking with sports to the High school or college age, Saybrook also says it helps with learning how to balance multiple responsibilities at once and develop a better mental toughness with the competitiveness of sports. Overall, I believe doing any kind of physical activity or dabbling in sports will enhance your mental well-being more than doing nothing.

https://systematicreviewsjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13643-023-02264-8

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0268583