According to a recent article in Smithsonian Magazine, a study of 11,000 kids ages 9 to 13 found that those who play team sports have fewer mental health difficulties, while those that play individual sports – like gymnastics or tennis – have more.

Compared to kids who do not participate in sports, those who played team sports reported 10 percent lower scores in anxiety and depression, while those playing individual sports scored 16 percent higher. Similar findings were discovered in multiple categories across the board. Team sport players reported 19 percent lower withdrawn/depressed scores, while individual athletes reported scores 14 percent higher.

The study’s lead author, Matt Hoffmann, a sports psychologist at California State University, Fullerton, stresses that the study found a strong correlation but not causation. In other words, there’s a link between individual sports and higher rates of mental health struggles but we do not yet know why. He urges the public – and concerned parents – not to jump to conclusions as a result.

It could be that children predisposed to better mental health gravitate to team sports. It is possible that athletes playing individual sports – like gymnastics – face undue pressure on performance or even body image.

University of Toronto sports psychologist Catherine Sabiston – who was not involved with the research – notes the findings were not a surprise, since “individual sports tend to be judgment-based, weight-focused, often appearance-heightened sports that heighten social comparison, competitiveness, and individual striving. There is no one to ‘blame’ or ‘thank’ other than yourself, and the pressure to perform is heightened.”

With or without research to back them, some athletes would strongly agree. As tennis prodigy Angre Agassi reveals in his autobiography Open, his father forced him into a strict, early tennis specialization, a game he now “hates.” He contrasts the stress he felt versus the feeling of joy he experienced when playing “the beautiful game” three times a week at school:

I love running the soccer field with the wind in my hair, calling for the ball, knowing the world won’t end if I don’t score. The fate of my father, of my family, of planet earth, doesn’t rest on my shoulders. If my team doesn’t win, it will be the whole team’s fault, and no one will yell in my ear. Team sports, I decide, are the way to go.

Nevertheless, Hoffman stresses that the important takeaway is not that kids should be prevented from playing individual sports, but parents and coaches should be mindful of the extra stress on young athletes in order to support them accordingly.

Despite the very large sample size, which strengthens the study’s finding, each child is unique, says Jennifer Agans, a developmental psychologist at Pennsylvania State University who was not involved in the study. Parents should maintain an open dialogue and keep a watchful eye on their children, but “if your kid loves wrestling, let them wrestle!”

Read the full article here.

Or read the study for yourself.

Fox, Alex. “Should Parents Worry About New Research Linking Kids’ Mental Health and Individual Sports?” Smithsonian Magazine, 1 June 2022, https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/playing-individual-sports-associated-with-mental-health-struggles-in-kids-180980174/.

Photo by Chino Rocha on Unsplash