Relationships among sport participation, sport and social competence, and mental health symptomatology.

Introduction: Rising rates of adolescent mental health symptomatology have prompted increased attention to the potential protective role of sport participation. While sport participation has the potential to support positive mental health outcomes, such as lower levels of anxiety and depression, athletes may also experience unique stressors and pressures surrounding sport. Such dualities underscore the need to better understand the mechanisms underlying the relationship between sport participation and mental health outcomes. Methods: This study used structural equation modeling to examine whether sport participation (61% of the sample) was related to reduced internalizing and externalizing behaviors among a sample of 628 adolescents aged 13-18 ( Results: The hypothesized model demonstrated good fit (RMSEA = .043, SRMR = .044). Sport participation was positively associated with sport competence (β = .74) and social competence (β = .24). Internalizing behaviors were negatively predicted by sport (β = -.27) and social competence (β = -.14), and externalizing behaviors were negatively predicted by social competence (β = -.33) and positively predicted by sport competence (β = .11). A significant indirect pathway emerged from sport participation to internalizing behaviors (total indirect β = -.23) primarily through sport competence (β = -.20), whereas social competence did not uniquely mediate this relationship. Indirect effects for externalizing behaviors were non-significant. Measurement invariance analyses indicated that the model was equivalent in relationships across female and male adolescents. Discussion: Findings highlight sport competence as a key mechanism through which sport participation may relate to lower internalizing symptomatology and suggest that enhancing competence experiences in sport may be an important target for mental health promotion.