Comparison of stress sources and coping strategies in children practicing judo and their non-training peers.

backgroundThe age of 10 to 15 is a period of intense psychosocial changes, often accompanied by increased emotional tension. To date, there is a lack of in-depth analyses in which stress responses and coping strategies are compared between physically active children and their peers not engaged in regular sports training. The study was grounded in transactional and sport-specific coping frameworks and aimed to compare students practicing judo with those not involved in any sports discipline in terms of stress sources, symptoms and coping strategies. Understanding how stress perception and coping profiles differ between children engaged in regular sport and their non-training peers may help identify targets for preventive and psychoeducational programmes in early adolescence.

methodsA total of 553 students aged 10 to 15 participated in the study, including 276 children who regularly practiced judo and 277 peers not engaged in any sports disciplines. The grouping criterion was a self-reported participation in training at least three times per week or the absence of regular physical activity. Stress coping strategies were assessed using the standardised "How do you cope?" (JSR) questionnaire developed by Juczyński and Ogińska-Bulik, along with an original survey including questions on stress sources, symptoms and responses.

resultsChildren practicing judo reported significantly lower levels of school-related stress than their non-training peers (pHolm = 0.006), with 43.8% indicating they "never" or "rarely" experience stress (vs. 25.3% in the non-training group). Judo students also felt safer at school ("always": 44.6% vs. 26.7%; pHolm = 0.006). School-related stressors such as grades, teacher criticism, tests, loneliness and other concerns were more frequently reported by the non-training children (all pHolm < 0.038). Psychosomatic symptoms such as lack of concentration (53.8% vs. 32.6%), stomach pain (40.1% vs. 24.3%) and hand tremors were also more common in the non-training group (pHolm = 0.014). Judo practitioners were more likely to cope through physical activity (42.8% vs. 11.3%; pHolm = 0.008), while non-training students more often used social media (46.4% vs. 29.5%) and video games (42.8% vs. 25.0%; pHolm = 0.008 for both). Judo practitioners showed lower emotion-focused coping, whereas evidence for higher situational active coping was weaker and should be interpreted cautiously.

conclusionThe study indicates that judo participation was associated with lower school-related stress and fewer selected psychosomatic symptoms in children, as well as with more frequent use of physical activity as an everyday coping behaviour. Judo practitioners were less likely to use passive stress relief (e.g. social media) and it was more probable for them to engage in physical activity. Findings align with sport-coping taxonomies and suggest applied opportunities for coping-skills training within youth judo. These findings suggest that structured sport participation, such as judo, may be associated with more favourable stress-and-coping profiles in early adolescence, and warrant further investigation in longitudinal designs.