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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Children and Health
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1540968
The impact of family socioeconomic status on adolescent mental and physical health: The mediating role of parental involvement in youth sports
Provisionally accepted- 1 College of Physical Education, Chongqing University, Chongqing, China
- 2 Chongqing Bashu Science City Secondary School, Chongqing, China
This study reviewed the literature on the mechanisms by which family socioeconomic status and parental involvement in youth sports impacted adolescent health. The sample of approximately 11,003 adolescents from Chinese middle schools was analyzed by quantitative analysis. The research explored the relationships among family socioeconomic status, parental involvement in youth sports, and adolescent health across three dimensions. The findings indicated that both family socioeconomic status and parental involvement in youth sports significantly positively predict levels of adolescents' physical health and mental health. Further analysis revealed that parental involvement in youth sports mediated the relationship between family socioeconomic status and adolescent health, meaning that family socioeconomic status indirectly influences adolescents' physical health and mental health through parental involvement in youth sports. Notably, the indirect effect of parental 2 involvement in youth sports on adolescents' mental health was the strongest. Thus, it was evident that parental involvement in youth sports played a crucial role in adolescent physical and mental health. Regardless of family socioeconomic status, parents should actively engage in sports activities with their children, particularly those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds.
Keywords: Family socioeconomic status, adolescents' physical health, Adolescents' mental health, parental involvement in youth sports, the Mediating Role
Received: 06 Dec 2024; Accepted: 17 Feb 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Yang, Xiang, Hu, Zheng and Zhao. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Zubing Xiang, College of Physical Education, Chongqing University, Chongqing, China
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