IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i14p8597-d863054.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

“Balance Is Better”: The Wellbeing Benefits of Participating in a Breadth of Sports across a Variety of Settings during Adolescence

Author

Listed:
  • Oliver W. A. Wilson

    (Te Hau Kori, Faculty of Health, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington 6012, New Zealand)

  • Chris Whatman

    (School of Sport & Recreation, Auckland University of Technology, Auckland 1142, New Zealand)

  • Simon Walters

    (School of Sport & Recreation, Auckland University of Technology, Auckland 1142, New Zealand)

  • Sierra Keung

    (School of Sport & Recreation, Auckland University of Technology, Auckland 1142, New Zealand)

  • Dion Enari

    (School of Sport & Recreation, Auckland University of Technology, Auckland 1142, New Zealand)

  • Alex Chiet

    (Sport New Zealand, Wellington 6140, New Zealand)

  • Sarah-Kate Millar

    (Faculty of Health, University of Canterbury, Christchurch 8041, New Zealand)

  • Lesley Ferkins

    (School of Sport & Recreation, Auckland University of Technology, Auckland 1142, New Zealand)

  • Erica Hinckson

    (School of Sport & Recreation, Auckland University of Technology, Auckland 1142, New Zealand)

  • Jeremy Hapeta

    (School of Physical Education, Sport and Exercise Sciences, University of Otago, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand)

  • Michael Sam

    (School of Physical Education, Sport and Exercise Sciences, University of Otago, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand)

  • Justin Richards

    (Te Hau Kori, Faculty of Health, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington 6012, New Zealand
    Sport New Zealand, Wellington 6140, New Zealand)

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine how wellbeing is associated with the setting in which sport participation takes place and the breadth of sport participation. Demographic characteristics (age, gender, ethnicity, deprivation, (dis)ability status), recreational physical activity, and wellbeing were assessed in cohorts of adolescents (11–17 years) between 2017 and 2019 in Aotearoa, New Zealand. Better wellbeing was associated with participation in any sport vs. none (OR = 1.57, 95% CI = 1.30–1.90). Better wellbeing was also associated with participating in any coached sport training (OR = 1.48, 95% CI = 1.33–1.66), competitive sport (OR = 1.33, 95% CI = 1.18–1.49), social sport (OR = 1.33, 95% CI = 1.18–1.49), and uncoached sport training (OR = 1.16, 95% CI = 1.03–1.31) compared to non-participation in the given setting. Wellbeing was not associated with participation in physical education or solo sport. Participating in sport in three to five different settings (3 settings: OR = 1.21, 95% CI = 1.01–1.44; 4 settings: OR = 1.33, 95% CI = 1.09–1.62; 5 settings: OR = 1.37, 95% CI = 1.07–1.75) or sports (3 sports: OR = 1.25, 95% CI = 1.04–1.51; 4 sports: OR = 1.31, 95% CI = 1.06–1.61; 5 sports: OR = 1.33, 95% CI = 1.05–1.69) was associated with better wellbeing compared to participation in a single setting or sport, respectively. A balanced approach to participating across a variety of sport settings and sports that are facilitated by quality coaches may offer the largest additional wellbeing value.

Suggested Citation

  • Oliver W. A. Wilson & Chris Whatman & Simon Walters & Sierra Keung & Dion Enari & Alex Chiet & Sarah-Kate Millar & Lesley Ferkins & Erica Hinckson & Jeremy Hapeta & Michael Sam & Justin Richards, 2022. "“Balance Is Better”: The Wellbeing Benefits of Participating in a Breadth of Sports across a Variety of Settings during Adolescence," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(14), pages 1-10, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:14:p:8597-:d:863054
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/14/8597/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/14/8597/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Oliver W. A. Wilson & Chris Whatman & Simon Walters & Sierra Keung & Dion Enari & Andy Rogers & Sarah-Kate Millar & Lesley Ferkins & Erica Hinckson & Jeremy Hapeta & Michael Sam & Justin Richards, 2022. "The Value of Sport: Wellbeing Benefits of Sport Participation during Adolescence," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(14), pages 1-9, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. John Murphy & Bronagh McGrane & Rhiannon Lee White & Mary Rose Sweeney, 2022. "Self-Esteem, Meaningful Experiences and the Rocky Road—Contexts of Physical Activity That Impact Mental Health in Adolescents," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(23), pages 1-16, November.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Tom Bergen & Alice Hyun Min Kim & Anja Mizdrak & Louise Signal & Geoff Kira & Justin Richards, 2023. "Determinants of Future Physical Activity Participation in New Zealand Adolescents across Sociodemographic Groups: A Descriptive Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(11), pages 1-16, May.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:14:p:8597-:d:863054. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.