The major prediction was that youth who participated in sport, whether formal or leisure time, would report fewer problem behaviors and increased perceptions of competencies as compared with youth with lower levels of sports participation.
The present study found that greater participation in sports was related to enhanced emotional and behavioral well-being. They reported significantly lower levels of externalizing and social problems as compared to those who engaged in fewer formal sports. There was also a positive relationship between higher levels of total sports participation and perceived competence.
Further, there is also the important implication that young adolescents may not necessarily have to be competent at sports in order to gain psychological benefits from participation. The finding were that participants who perceived themselves to be competent at sport reported fewer behavioral problems compared to those rated by an external observer as athletically compete.