Volume 100

Madeline Aul

Adolescent participation in athletics provides many benefits for participants including improved academic performance, higher self-esteem, and better lifelong health outcomes. Additionally, participation in adolescent sports continues to grow; during the 2022-2023 school year, nearly eight million individuals participated in high school athletics. Despite the perceived psychological benefits of participation in sports, athletes and non-athletes continue to experience mental health issues at roughly the same rate. This suggests that some aspects of athletic participation may actually cancel out the psychological benefits of athletic participation by having harmful effects on the mental health of young athletes.

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