AUTHOR=Liu Tianzhuo , Li Dong , Yang Hongying , Chi Xinli , Yan Jin TITLE=Associations of sport participation with subjective well-being: a study consisting of a sample of Chinese school-attending students JOURNAL=Frontiers in Public Health VOLUME=11 YEAR=2023 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/public-health/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1199782 DOI=10.3389/fpubh.2023.1199782 ISSN=2296-2565 ABSTRACT=Purpose

Past studies have illustrated that the impact of sports participation on school-attending students’ well-being plays a significant role in the life course of adolescence, which is a golden period for developing sound psychological qualities. However, the relationship between sports participation and subjective well-being is not clear, particularly in Chinese primary and middle schools. Therefore, the current study was aimed to explore the relationship between sports participation and subjective well-being in elementary and middle schools in China.

Method

All involved children and adolescents were asked to conduct a self-report of their sociodemographic factors (e.g., sex, grade, and age), independence, and outcomes. The survey involved a two-stage sampling design (district school). Besides, in order to examine the relationship between participation in sports and subjective well-being, a self-report questionnaire was used. Logistic regression with 95% confidence interval and odds ratios (ORs), was conducted to investigate the relationship between sports participation and subjective well-being.

Results

A total of 67,281 participants in total provided complete data for the final analysis of the current study. The percentage of boys and girls was 51.9% and 48.1%, namely. The current study found that compared with children who never participate in sports, those children who participated sports in 1–3 times a month, 1–2 times a week, and 3 times a week and above were more likely to enjoy better well-being. Compared with children who never participate in sports, those children who in every grade participated sports in 1–3 times a month, 1–2 times a week, and 3 times a week and above were more likely to achieve better well-being.

Conclusion

Our current study offered the positive effect of sports participation on children and adolescents’ subjective well-being. For schools and governments, further studies are needed to focus on sports participation and positive feedback on adolescents’ mental health, and the three parties’ endeavors should be intervened.