Sports Participation, Frequency, and Competence Differentially Impact Youth Depressive, Anxious, and Somatic Symptoms: Gender, Neighborhood, and Sports Type Effects.

Mental health problems are prevalent in adolescence, but sports participation may offer mental health benefits through this developmental period and beyond. Characteristics of sports participation including perceived frequency and competence may differentially predict adolescent depressive, anxious, and somatic symptoms over time and results may further vary according to gender, neighborhood context, and type of sport engagement. Data were collected at two time-points six months apart from an ethnically diverse sample of adolescents ( = 183, female = 51%).