The link between participation in sports and youth mental health is stronger than many might realize.
One of the world’s leading sports psychologists told a North Bay audience that in addition to there being enhanced physical and social benefits to sports participation, there is also evidence that it can provide some measure of protection against mental health issues.
Dr. Stewart Vella specializes in the relationship between participation in sport and youth mental health.
Vella who is a Senior Research Fellow, School of Psychology, University of Wollongong, Australia, gave a brief presentation on a program he has been working on for the past four years called ‘Ahead of the Game’.
The program is a mental health promotion and prevention program run through community sports for adolescent athletes.
“Sports is the vehicle. So we believe that sports are very engaging, very motivating, a very powerful vehicle to deliver mental health programs. So we kind of leverage the context of sports to actually deliver the programs.”
Research was funded by the Movember Foundation, a men’s health charity in Australia. Everything was designed, and tested for adolescent males.
“When you deliver mental health programs through sport, specifically mental health literacy programs for adolescents, resilience programs for adolescents, mental health literacy programs for their parents and a coach program, then kids who participate have lower psychological distress, higher well-being, higher resilience, and higher mental health literacy.“
Vella points to a study out of the United States of over 10,000 adolescents.
“The researchers of that study showed that sports participation is associated with 39% less suicide attempts. The trouble with that study is that we can’t say that sport is causing that, but we know that among sports participants, there are less suicide attempts and meaningfully so.”
The focus in the Australian program is on organized sports.
“Because there is a coach, because there’s formal organized training sessions, we’re able to get time in and around those training sessions, and so the organized nature of them means that we’re much more able to deliver the programs, as opposed to non-organized sports. I don’t know how you would facilitate a program in those kinds of sports,” said Vella.
“I think the most powerful aspect is the team nature of the program, that you get people who have very well established bonds, that trust each other, that know each other.”
The program offers key lessons for parents regarding adolescent mental health literacy.
“I think parents shape, as coaches do, the sport environment and the experience of sports for children. And so parents play a very critical role. I think an over focus on winning is probably detrimental on the whole. I think more of a focus on mastery or skill acquisition, you know, self-reference goals like ‘did you get better’, rather than ‘did you win?’ because kids can control those goals and making the goals under the control of the children is really important for their perceptions of confidence, their perceptions of autonomy.”
Athletes are encouraged to “control the controllables”,
“Focusing on winning inevitably takes whether or not a child is successful out of their hands, because you could have the best game you’ve ever played and you still might not win. So, should that be seen as a loss or not a success? I don’t believe that it should. So how do you equip children to appreciate that that is actually a great thing that they played their best game they’ve ever had. And I think parenting has a lot to do with that.”
The program teaches young people how to get the conversation started. And ways to identify in others and in themselves when behaviour isn’t run of the mill adolescent behaviour, but something more deep rooted such as depression.
“I think that’s the key difficulty. That’s the really, really hard part, knowing when someone is not feeling okay. Adolescents will deny it, they’ll hide it as best they can because they don’t always want to be forward about the fact they’re not feeling well, so it can be difficult to even notice. And that’s the key. How do you get adolescents or parents to notice when someone’s not okay. So that’s what we try to teach, and then we try to give them the words to actually start that conversation. We also tell them it’s okay to check in on someone. That is, I think, the million dollar question. When is someone not okay and how do you start that conversation? That’s what we try to work on.”
Vella says it is important to reach out to youngsters at an early age.
“Fifty percent of mental health problems have their onset. So if you have depressive symptoms, someone might start to experience those symptoms before the age of 14, so in 50% of cases, that will be the case. So I believe its fundamental that we try to equip 12 and 13 year old’s with the skills that they need to be able to recognize those warning signs and then to seek help early.”
Moving forward, Vella would like to see the conversation spread.
“The best thing people can take away is a willingness to get involved in mental health promotion through sport. To actually take some action, to use sport to address mental health. Short of that, I think just an understanding that this is potentially a very important vehicle to deliver mental health programs for young people. If they could take that away, that would also be a win.”
Vella says the program is showing positive results.
“The most tangible thing is that we get a lot of reports of people actually taking action. So they’re going to see a doctor, or taking their child to a doctor, encouraging their child to see a school counsellor. Those are the most pleasing outcomes, and I don’t know if that’s because the stigma’s being broken down or because they have more knowledge, but for whatever reason, those people have sought help, and to us that is the key.”
