Relationships Between Youth Sports Participation and Mental Health in Young Adulthood Among Finnish Males

Abstract

Purpose: To examine whether retrospectively assessed sports participation (SP) and competitive sports (CS) at the age of 12 years is associated with mental health and health behavior in young adulthood among males. Design: A cross-sectional study using self-administered questionnaires. Setting: Conducted prior to compulsory military refresher training course in Finland allowing geographically representative sample of Finnish young men. Participants: Six hundred eighty males aged between 20 and 35 years. Measures: Mental well-being was measured with the short version of Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale and mental distress with 5 items of The Short Form Helalth Survey (SF-36) scale. Analysis: Binary logistic regression models. Results: Sports participation at the age of 12 was associated with better mental health in young adulthood, with both mental well-being (odds ratio [OR] = 1.86, 95% confidence interval 1.11-3.11) and mental distress (OR = 0.61, 0.41-0.90). Age, years of education, and current physical activity were controlled. Higher level of intensity of SP and the level of CS in childhood were associated with lower level of mental distress in adulthood. No association was found between the level of CS in childhood and mental well-being in adulthood. Further, youth SP seemed to be a risk factor for increased alcohol consumption and use of snuff in adulthood. Conclusions: Despite negative outcomes related to health behavior, the findings provide support for the association between youth SP and positive mental health outcomes in adulthood among males.