ELC501 WRITTEN ANALYSIS

SEMESTER MARCH JULY 2016

Instruction: Write an analysis of the article below in about 600 words. Please use
the template provided to write your analysis.
Dr.
School Sports May Be A Good Preventive Treatment For Depression, Stress In Teens
Sports help lower the risk of depression and reduce stress in teens. Sports teach
teamwork, discipline, time management, and sacrifice among many other life skills. But
now researchers are finding that teens who play sports are less stressed and have better
mental health. Canadian researchers published a recent study, which showed that sports
teams could be used as a protective treatment against stress and depression in early
adulthood.
"There is surprisingly little known about school sport, so we can only speculate as to the
unique effects, but we suspect it might be due to school sport providing adolescents with
opportunities to bond with other students, feel connected to their school, interact with
their peers and coaches, thus, really providing a social and active environment," said lead
author Dr. Catherine Sabiston, of the University of Toronto, in a press release.
Researchers focused on school sports in order to target the population, and see how well
the mental state of teens from eighth to 12th grade lasted during and after graduation.
Nearly 850 student basketball, soccer, track and field, wrestling, and gymnastics players
were surveyed. Three years after graduation they were asked how frequently or
infrequently they experienced signs of depression, and stress levels in their life on a scale
of one (poor) to five (excellent).
Researchers linked feelings of accomplishment and mastery of a sports skills to a better
mental state. According to Child Trends Data Bank, depression increases during
adolescence and peaks in early adulthood between 18 and 29 years old, which means
preventive measures are in high demand. "Single sessions of activity reduce anxiety,
improve mood, and raise feelings of energy that last for several hours," said Dr. Jack
Raglin, a professor in the department of kinesiology at Indiana University-Bloomington,
in the release. "Long-term participation can significantly improve conditions such as
clinical anxiety and depression to a degree that rivals medication, both in adults and
adolescents."

It is important that school administrators recognize the importance of sport participation

and physical activity," Sabiston said. "The associations we have found show a long term
impact. School sport from ages 12 to 17 protects those youth from poor mental health
four years later."
On all three mental health assessments of the entire body of students, those who
participated in sports scored higher than non-athletes. This led researchers to conclude
playing sports during crucial developmental years of adolescents significantly lowered
depression symptoms, stress, and increased self-evaluated mental health.
By Samantha Olson | Jul 6, 2014 05:19 PM EDT
http://www.medicaldaily.com/school-sports-may-be-good-preventive-treatmentdepression-stress-teens-291596