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105
RESEARCH NOTE
Catherine M. Sabiston, Rachel Jewett, and Garcia Ashdown-
Franks are with the Department of Kinesiology and Physical
Education, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Mathieu Belanger is with the Department of Family Medicine,
Université de Sherbrooke, Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada.
Jennifer Brunet is with the School of Human Kinetics, Uni-
versity of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Erin O’Loughlin
is with the Department of Preventive Medicine, Concordia
University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Jennifer O’Loughlin
is with the Department of Social and Preventive Medicine,
Université de Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Address
author correspondence to Catherine M. Sabiston at catherine.
sabiston@utoronto.ca.
Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 2016, 38, 105 -110
http://dx.doi.org/10.1123/jsep.2015-0175
© 2016 Human Kinetics, Inc.
Number of Years of Team and Individual Sport
Participation During Adolescence and Depressive
Symptoms in Early Adulthood
Catherine M. Sabiston,1 Rachel Jewett,1 Garcia Ashdown-Franks,1 Mathieu Belanger,2
Jennifer Brunet,3 Erin O’Loughlin,4 and Jennifer O’Loughlin5
1University of Toronto; 2Université de Sherbrooke; 3University of Ottawa;
4Concordia University; 5Université de Montreal
The purpose of this study was to examine the longitudinal and unique association between number of years
of team sport and individual sport participation during adolescence and depressive symptoms during early
adulthood. Adolescents (n = 860) reported team sport and individual sport participation in each year of second-
ary school for ve years. Participants reported depressive symptoms using the Major Depression Inventory
three years after secondary school. Multivariate linear regression was performed to model the associations of
sport participation with depressive symptoms while controlling for sex, age, parent education, and baseline
depressive symptoms. In the nal model, adolescents who consistently participated in team sport during high
school reported lower depression scores in early adulthood (β = –.09, p = .02). Number of years of individual
sport participation was not statistically signicantly associated with depressive symptoms in early adulthood.
Based on these ndings, team sport participation may protect against depressive symptoms in early adult-
hood. If this nding is replicated, strategies should be implemented to encourage and maintain team sport
participation during adolescence. Further research is needed to understand the mechanisms that link team
sport participation to lower depression.
Keywords: adolescent, sport, exercise psychology
Approximately 30–40% of adolescent boys and
girls age 12–19 years report moderate to high levels of
depressive symptoms (Galambos, Leadbeater, & Barker,
2004; Hankin et al., 1998), and 2–9% are diagnosed with
Major Depressive Disorder (MDD; Costello, Foley, &
Angold, 2006; Williams, O’Connor, Eder, & Whitlock,
2009; Lewinsohn, Hops, Roberts, Seeley, & Andrews,
1993). More than 50% of adolescents diagnosed with
MDD will continue to experience major depression into
adulthood (Lewinsohn, Rohde, Klein, & Seeley, 1999).
Symptoms of depression can challenge overall health,
well-being, and quality of life (Himelhoch et al., 2004;
McIntyre et al., 2006; Judd, Schettler, & Akiskal, 2002;
Gonzalez-Tejera et al., 2005). As such, it is important
to identify and test modiable factors that may reduce
depressive symptoms in youth.
Sport participation is associated with fewer or less
severe depressive symptoms in youth (Boone & Lead-
beater, 2006; Gore, Farrell, & Gordon, 2001; Sanders,
Field, Diego, & Kaplan, 2000; Ferron, Narring, Cau-
deray, & Michaud, 1999). Brunet et al. (2013) found
that involvement in organized sport during adolescence,
but not moderate to vigorous physical activity outside
of a sport context, was associated with lower depressive
symptom scores in early adulthood. One explanation
offered for this nding was that physical activity in the
context of organized sport may foster positive mental
health by providing opportunities for social interaction
and connectedness. Similarly, Jewett et al. (2014) found
that participation in school sport was associated with
decreased depressive symptoms and stress, and higher
self-rated mental health in young adulthood. These nd-
ings also highlight the potential importance of social
factors in linking sport participation and mental health
during adolescence and young adulthood.
106 Sabiston et al.
JSEP Vol. 38, No. 1, 2016
The possible link between the social nature of sport
participation and depression has not yet been explored
longitudinally. It is possible that participation in indi-
vidual sports (i.e., participation involving people compet-
ing against others for personal goals) is less protective
than participation in team sports (i.e., involving a group
of people working together toward a shared goal) due
to the differences in the social nature of training and
participation (Eime, Young, Harvey, Charity, & Payne,
2013). In a cross-sectional study, Miller and Hoffman
(2009) compared associations between individual sport
and team sport participation and depression, and con-
cluded that the experience of playing on a team during
adolescence may contribute to the development of a
prosocial athlete identity that buffers against depression.
In another cross-sectional study, Boone and Leadbeater
(2006) showed that positive team sport involvement (i.e.,
involvement that led to skill development, and which had
warm positive coaching and fostered feelings of social
support and belonging), mediated the risk of depressive
symptoms in male and female adolescents. In a longitudi-
nal study spanning two years, Vella et al. (2014) reported
that children aged 8–10 years who participated in team
sports had greater health-related quality of life (a con-
struct that includes assessment of psychological health)
over time compared with children who only participated
in individual sports. Possible explanations included that
team sports enhance perceived social acceptance (Boone
& Leadbeater, 2006), teamwork and accountability to
others (MacDonald, Côté, Eys, & Deakin, 2012), collec-
tive goal-striving (Senécal, Loughead, & Bloom, 2008),
and emotional regulation (Vella, Oades, & Crowe, 2013).
Team sport may also be an environment conducive to
social contagion effects (Scarapicchia et al., 2013), and
may lead to more intense and more frequent physical
activity, which may improve mental health outcomes
through neurobiological inuences such as monoamine
availability and increased neurotrophic factors (Aan het
Rot, Collins, & Fitterling, 2009). Although youth can
participate in both team and individual sport, and despite
the possible differences in the social and training contexts
of team and individual sport participation, there has been
limited attention in exploring the possible differences in
their association to mental health.
Although the notion that sport participation may
protect against depression has been examined, there has
been little attention directed to the unique benets offered
by team and individual sports participation. Evaluat-
ing which type of sport participation is associated with
depression may inform sport programing that is con-
cerned with promoting mental health as well as mental
health interventions. In the current study, the longitudinal
association between participation in team and individual
sports in adolescence and depressive symptoms in early
adulthood was examined. We hypothesized that number
of years of involvement in team sport would be associated
with fewer depressive symptoms during early adulthood,
whereas no such relationship would emerge for individual
sport participation.
Method
Data for the study were drawn from the Nicotine Depen-
dence In Teens (NDIT) study, which is a prospective
cohort study of 1294 students (52% female) who were
enrolled in 1 of 10 purposefully recruited high schools
in Montreal, QC. Beginning in 1999, the rst 20 survey
cycles comprised self-report questionnaires administered
at schools every three months during the 10-month school
year for the ve years of secondary school. Additional
data were collected three years after graduation from high
school (2008–09; survey cycle 21) in mailed self-report
questionnaires completed by 880 participants. Approval
from appropriate ethics committees was obtained for the
study protocol. Further details on the study design have
been published elsewhere (O’Loughlin et al., 2014).
A total of 860 males and females who provided
complete data were included in the analytic sample.
Participants (54% female) were on average 20.4 (SD =
0.7) years of age at survey cycle 21. Mean depressive
symptoms at baseline on a scale ranging from 1 to 4 were
2.1 (SD = 0.6). There were no signicant differences in
baseline age, sex, parent education, team or individual
sport participation, or depressive symptoms between
participants retained and not retained in the analysis.
Measures
Involvement in Team and Individual Sport. Involve-
ment in team sport and individual sport was measured in
survey cycles 1 through 20 by asking participants if they
belonged to any of 12 sport teams at school (basketball,
soccer, football, track and eld, rugby, wrestling, swim-
ming, softball, cross-country ski, volleyball, gymnastics,
and hockey) and 11 sport teams outside of school (bas-
ketball, soccer, football, swimming, baseball, volleyball,
hockey, ballet/dance, aerobic classes, ski lessons, and
judo/karate). The list of sports for both individual and
team participation was based on common opportunities
in Canadian schools and recreational and community
programs at the time of the baseline assessment period.
Participants were also offered the chance of providing
responses for “other.” Response options for each sport
were yes or no. Sports were organized into team (football,
basketball, volleyball, soccer, hockey, softball, baseball,
and rugby) or individual (swim, track, gymnastics, dance,
cross-country ski, wrestling, and judo) categories based
on the primary competition context. As such, coactive
sports were included in the individual sport category
because participation requires little to no group inter-
action and coordination for the achievement of goals.
Sports listed as “other” were also categorized as team or
individual (e.g., ringette). To account for seasonal varia-
tion in opportunities for involvement and participation,
responses across a single school year (September to
June) were collapsed into a dichotomous variable (yes
or no) for each of the ve years of secondary school. As
such, both team sport and individual sport participation
scores ranged from 0 to 5 (no involvement to 5 years of
Adolescent Sports and Depressive Symptoms 107
JSEP Vol. 38, No. 1, 2016
involvement). For descriptive purposes only, participants
were also coded as involved in no sport, or team sport,
individual sport, or both team and individual sport across
the ve years of adolescence.
Depressive Symptoms. Depressive symptoms were
assessed in survey cycle 21 (three years after secondary
school) using the Major Depression Inventory (MDI;
Bech, Rasmussen, Olsen, Noerholm, & Abildgaard,
2001). Participants reported the frequency of experienc-
ing 10 depressive symptoms in the past two weeks using
a 6-point Likert-type scale ranging from 0 (at no time)
to 5 (all the time). The scores for each symptom were
summed to create the MDI score that ranged from 0 to
50. For items 8 and 10 of the MDI, which each had two
possible choices (a and b), only the highest of the two
scores was used as per recommended scoring procedures
for the MDI (Bech et al., 2001). Scores on the MDI are
valid and reliable in adults (Bech et al., 2001). In the
current study, the Cronbach’s alpha was 0.9.
Covariates. Potential confounders of the associations
between team and individual sport participation and
depressive symptoms assessed at survey cycle 21 included
sex (male = 1 or female = 2), age, baseline depression
symptoms, and parent education. Baseline depression
symptoms were measured using a six-item depressive symp-
toms scale at survey cycle 1 (Kandel & Davies, 1982),
for which scores have been shown to be valid and reliable
(Brunet, Sabiston, Chaiton, Low, Contreras, Barnett, &
O’Loughlin, 2014). Participants indicated the frequency
with which they experienced six symptoms related to
depression in the past 3 months on a 4-point Likert-type
scale ranging from 1 (never) to 4 (often). Responses were
summed and averaged to create the baseline depression
symptom score. Parental education status, used as a
proxy for socioeconomic status, was dichotomized as “no
university education” (score = 0) or “one or both parents
have some university education” (score = 1) using data
reported by parents themselves around the same time
as participants completed survey cycle 21. If data were
missing from parents, data reported by participants in
survey cycles 13 or 17 were used.
Data Analysis
Data analyses were performed in SPSS V20 (IBM Corp.,
Armonk, NY). Descriptive statistics (means, standard
deviations, Pearson correlation coefcients) were com-
puted in preliminary analyses. Hierarchical linear regres-
sion was used to model the associations of number of
years of participation in team sport and individual sport
during adolescence with depressive symptoms in early
adulthood. Covariates (sex, age, baseline depressive
symptoms, and parent education) were entered on step
1, and team and individual sport participation variables
were entered on step 2. Cohen’s f 2 (Cohen, 1988) was
calculated as f 2 = R2 ÷ (1 – R2) to provide effect size coef-
cients. In sensitivity analysis, separate models tested if
team or individual sport participation were independent
predictors of depressive symptoms. To explore the unique
effects of team and individual sport experiences, we
also tested a third model by excluding participants who
competed in both team and individual sports at any time
during adolescence.
Results
Participants reported an average of 2.4 (SD = 2.0) years
in team sport and 1.6 (SD = 1.7) years in individual sport.
In the sample, 12.6% of the participants reported no team
or individual sport participation; and 52% of the sample
reported participating in both team and individual sport
in one or more data collection cycles during adolescence.
The mean MDI score for depressive symptoms at survey
cycle 21 was 9.8 (SD = 7.8). Mean MDI scores for
participants involved in no sports (n = 108), individual
sports only (n = 103), team sports only (n = 200), or both
team and individual sports (n = 449) at any point during
adolescence were 11.08 (SD = 9.36), 11.14 (SD = 8.53),
8.73 (7.27), and 9.64 (7.51) respectively.
Years of involvement in team sport participation
during adolescence was positively correlated with years
of participation in individual sport during the same time
period (r = .22, p = .01), and negatively correlated with
depressive symptoms in early adulthood (r = –.12, p =
.01). The number of years of individual sport participa-
tion was positively, but not statistically signicantly,
correlated with depressive symptoms (r = .04, p = .30).
The regression model was statistically signicant,
F (6, 838) = 15.71, p < .001, R2 = .12, Cohen’s f = 0.14
(Table 1). After controlling for sex, age, baseline depres-
sive symptoms, and parent education, years of team sport
participation during adolescence was negatively associ-
ated with depressive symptoms in early adulthood. The
number of years of individual sport participation was
not signicantly associated with depressive symptoms
in early adulthood. The ndings were consistent when
the number of years of team (Model R2 = .11, team sport
coefcient β = – 0.09, p = .03) and individual (Model
R2 = .09, individual sport coefcient β = 0.02, p = .94)
sport participation were tested in separate models, as
well as in the subset of participants who reported experi-
ences in team or individual sport exclusively. Among the
481 participants reporting individual or team sport only
throughout adolescence, the number of years of team
sport involvement was a signicant predictor of depres-
sive symptoms (β = – 0.11, p = .03) after controlling for
the covariates whereas number of years of involvement
in individual sport was not signicant (β = 0.04, p = .39).
Discussion
The association between team sport and individual sport
participation during ve years of high school and depres-
sive symptoms three years later in early adulthood was
examined in the current study. Based on these ndings,
number of years in team sport participation, but not in
108 Sabiston et al.
JSEP Vol. 38, No. 1, 2016
individual sport participation, is longitudinally associated
with depressive symptoms after controlling for sociode-
mographic variables. Although the effects in the model
predicting depressive symptoms were small and should
be replicated, prevention efforts aimed at reducing the
prevalence and burden of depressive symptoms could be
directed at promoting consistent team sport involvement
throughout adolescence.
Consistent with the hypothesis, adolescents who
participated in more years of team sports during second-
ary school reported lower depressive symptoms in early
adulthood. Participation in sports in general has previ-
ously been associated with fewer or less severe depressive
symptoms in cross-sectional and longitudinal studies
(Boone & Leadbeater, 2006; Brunet et al., 2013; Gore et
al., 2001; Sanders et al., 2000; Ferron et al., 1999). Based
on the current study results, number of years participating
in team sport may protect against depressive symptoms.
These ndings were robust in sensitivity analyses when
team and individual sport participation were tested in
separate models and when participants playing both team
and individual sport were excluded. It was also evident
in the mean values of depression symptoms, whereby
participants involved in team sport reported the lowest
MDI scores compared with peers involved in both team
and individual sport, individual sport only, or no sport.
The team sport climate offers a possible explanation for
this nding. Based on a review of the psychological and
social benets of sport participation, Eime and colleagues
(2013) suggest that due to the social nature of teams, team
sport participation contributes more strongly to positive
psychological outcomes such as lower depressive symp-
toms than individual sport participation. In addition, team
sports may reduce depressive symptoms indirectly by
fostering a positive athletic identity (Miller & Hoffman,
2009), building self-esteem (Pedersen & Seidman, 2004),
and a sense of social acceptance (Boone & Leadbeater,
2006). Further, a wide range of team sports meets
the description of vigorous intensity exercise, which
increases monoamines in the brain that help stabilize
mood (e.g., serotonin and dopamine), immune function,
and quality of life factors that are linked to mental health
(Aan het Rot, Collins, & Fitterling, 2009; Sabiston, Cas-
tonguay, Low, Barnett, Mathieu, O’Loughlin, & Lambert,
2010; Vella et al., 2014). Possible mechanisms linking
team sport participation and depressive symptoms need
to be tested in future research.
In the current study, individual sport was not statisti-
cally signicantly associated with depressive symptoms
and the beta coefcient was small suggesting that there
is little association between individual sport participa-
tion and depressive symptoms. The number of years in
individual sport participation may not be as protective
against depression as number of years of team sport expe-
riences due to lack of social connections and cohesion
that may limit improvements in self-concept, self-esteem,
and foster feelings of social isolation (Barber, Eccles, &
Stone, 2001; Eime et al., 2013; Marsh, 1993; Pedersen &
Seidman, 2004). In addition, many individual sports are
judged by others or emphasize physical appearance along
with performance (Parsons & Betz, 2001). As such, the
differences in associations of team sport and individual
sport participation with mental health may relate to sport-
specic and contextual mechanisms. In summary, and
consistent with the results of the current study, researchers
have identied weaker relationships between individual
sport participation and psychological, social, and quality
of life outcomes (Eime et al., 2013; Vella et al., 2014).
Further research efforts are needed to understand the
mechanisms that help to explain to association.
Table 1 Mean Number of Years of Team and Individual Sport
Participation During Adolescence as Predictors of Mean Depressive
Symptoms Scores During Young Adulthood (n = 844)
b (
SE
)
βR2
Step 1 0.09
Sexa3.15 (0.55) 0.20*
Age –0.18 (0.38) –0.02
Baseline depression 2.85 (0.45) 0.22*
Parent educationb–0.27 (0.24) –0.04
Step 2 0.12
Sexa2.85 (0.58) 0.18*
Age –0.10 (0.38) –0.01
Baseline depression 2.78 (0.46) 0.21*
Parent educationb–0.43 (0.25) –0.06
Years of team sport –0.33 (0.14) –0.09*
Years of individual sport participation 0.05 (0.17) 0.01
a,bSex was coded as male = 1 and female = 2. Parent education was coded as less than university education =
0 and university education = 1. *Statistically signicant at p < .05.
Adolescent Sports and Depressive Symptoms 109
JSEP Vol. 38, No. 1, 2016
Limitations of this study include use of a convenience
sample, which may limit generalizability of the results.
Data were collected using self-report measures that may
be subject to misclassication bias. The classication
of sports as team or individual may not capture social
contextual differences in participation. There may also be
a biased sample such that youth who experienced depres-
sive symptoms early in adolescence may have opted out of
team sport. Selection bias due to loss to follow-up is also
possible, although participants in the sample retained for
the analyses were not signicantly different at baseline
from those who dropped out on age, sex, parent education,
or team and individual sport participation, or depressive
symptoms. Lastly, although we controlled for several
potential confounders, unmeasured variables associated
with sport participation and depressive symptoms, such
as self-esteem, social connectedness and acceptance, and
body image may explain the observed association. There
may also be personal and contextual factors associated
with the selection of individual sport participation over
team sports that are associated with depressive symptoms.
Despite these limitations, this study has strengths includ-
ing a large sample size, low attrition rate from high school
to young adulthood, use of a longitudinal study design
spanning adolescence and early adulthood, and valid and
reliable measures used to assess depressive symptoms.
To conclude, this study is the rst to show that the
number of years of team sport participation, but not years
of involvement in individual sport, during adolescence is
associated with depressive symptoms in early adulthood.
Although replication of these ndings is necessary, they
provide support that widespread strategies need to be
implemented to help more adolescents participate, and
stay involved, in team sports to protect against depres-
sive symptoms in early adulthood. Finally, while we can
merely speculate on the social aspects inherent in team
sport participation that may be driving these associations,
future research examining the contribution of such social
aspects to the benets of team sport participation is needed.
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Manuscript submitted: June 30, 2015
Revision accepted: October 21, 2015
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