Return to search

Psychological benefits of sport participation and physical activity for adolescent females.

Recent research has suggested that the effects of sport on well-being are mediated by psychological characteristics such as physical self-concept, instrumentality and positive body images; in addition, sport was found to be related to these psychological benefits for high school girls. However, physical self-concept played a central role by mediating the sport -body image and sport instrumentality relationships. Positive body image and instrumentality, in turn, predicted greater psychological well-being. The purpose of this investigation was to replicate earlier studies, and to examine these relationships with non-sport physical activity. Sport and physical activity were expected to contribute to higher physical self-concept, which in turn, would contribute positively to instrumentality and body image. Further, instrumentality and body image would be positively related to psychological well-being. Participants were 355 9th (n = 170) and 10th (n = 193) graders and they completed measures of involvement in sport/physical activities, physical self-concept, instrumentality, body satisfaction, self-esteem, satisfaction with life, depression, and demographics. Structural equation modeling was utilized to analyze the data. Overall, for both sport and physical activity, the models fit the data well (sport model: NNFI=.95, CFI=.96, SRMR=.08, RMSEA=.09, physical activity model: NNFI=.96, CFI=.97, SRMR=.08, RMSEA=.09). Specifically, sport participation was positively related to physical self-concept (R2 = .47); physical self-concept related to body image (R2 = .30) and instrumentality (R2 = .23); Physical activity was positively related to physical self-concept (R2 = .61); physical self-concept related to body image (R2 = .30) and instrumentality (R2 = .26). For both models, positive body image and higher levels of instrumentality contributed to greater psychological well-being (R2 = 66). These results highlight the importance of developing physical competence for high school girls through sport participation and physical activity.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:unt.edu/info:ark/67531/metadc3997
Date08 1900
CreatorsBoyer, Elizabeth M.
ContributorsPetrie, Trent A., Greenleaf, Christy, Cogan, Karen D., Hayslip, Bert
PublisherUniversity of North Texas
Source SetsUniversity of North Texas
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis or Dissertation
FormatText
RightsPublic, Copyright, Boyer, Elizabeth M., Copyright is held by the author, unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved.

Page generated in 0.0022 seconds