research studies in sport

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• BMJ Open Sport Exerc Med
• v.6(1); 2020

Developing and training mental toughness in sport: a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies and pre-test and post-test experiments

Andreas stamatis.

1 Department of Sport and Wellness, SUNY Plattsburgh, Plattsburgh, New York, USA

Peter Grandjean

2 Department of Health, Exercise Science, and Recreation Management, University of Mississippi, University, Mississippi, USA

Grant Morgan

3 Department of Educational Psychology, Baylor University, Waco, Texas, USA

Robert Noah Padgett

Richard cowden.

4 Department of Psychology, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, Free State, South Africa

Panagiotis Koutakis

5 Department of Nutrition, Food, and Exercise Sciences, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, USA

Associated Data

bmjsem-2020-000747supp001.pdf

bmjsem-2020-000747supp002.pdf

bmjsem-2020-000747supp003.pdf

bmjsem-2020-000747supp004.pdf

bmjsem-2020-000747supp005.pdf

bmjsem-2020-000747supp006.pdf

To investigate the efficacy of interventions designed to train and develop mental toughness (MT) in sport.

Systematic review and meta-analysis.

Data sources

Journal articles, conference papers and doctoral theses indexed in Embase, Scopus, PubMed and SPORTDiscus from inception to 22 November 2019.

Eligibility criteria for selecting studies

Observational and pre–post experimental designs on the efficacy of physical and/or psychological interventions designed to promote MT in athletes.

A total of 12 studies, published between 2005 and 2019, were included in the review. A majority of the studies included a sample comprised exclusively of male athletes (54.55%), MT interventions were primarily psychological (83.33%) and most studies measured MT via self-report (75%). The Psychological Performance Inventory (25%), the Mental Toughness Questionnaire-48 (16.67%), and the Mental, Emotional and Bodily Toughness Inventory (16.67%) were the most popular inventories used to measure MT. Methodological quality assessments for controlled intervention studies ( k =7), single group pre-test–post-test designs ( k =4) and single-subject designs ( k =1) indicated that the risk of bias was high in most (75%) of the studies. The meta-analysis involving k =10 studies revealed a large effect ( d =0.80, 95% CI 0.30 to 1.28), with variability across studies estimated at 0.56.

Although the findings of this review suggest there are effective, empirically based interventions designed to train MT in sport, practitioners should be aware of the level of validity of intervention research before adopting any of the MT training programmes reported in the applied sport psychology literature.

Summary box

• An abundance of qualitative research suggests that mental toughness (MT) may be cultivated by manipulating features of the sporting environment, yet practitioners seem restricted by a lack of evidence on best practices for developing MT.
• Results from this systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies and pre-test and post-test experimental designs revealed a large effect for interventions designed to train and develop MT in sport.
• Included studies were found to have a moderate or high risk of bias and there were several methodological limitations identified that affect the interpretability (eg, insufficient reporting of methodology) and generalisability (eg, under-representation of female athletes) of the reported findings.
• Practitioners should be aware of the level of validity of MT intervention research before adopting any of the MT training programmes reported in the applied sport psychology literature.

Introduction

Mental toughness (MT) has been linked to a variety of desirable behaviours (eg, perseverance) and favourable sport performance outcomes (eg, achievement), making it highly attractive to various stakeholders involved in sport. 1 2 However, the practical utility of MT for anyone who is looking to successfully navigate the multifaceted demands of being a competitive athlete hinges on scientific efforts dedicated towards rigorous development of efficacious evidence-based MT interventions. 3 After several years of accumulating research in which scholars have used knowledge acquired on processes involved in MT development to design and empirically test MT interventions, the purpose of this study was to assess the efficacy of MT interventions through a systematic review of existing evidence and an accompanying meta-analysis.

Overview of MT

Over the last 20 years, considerable progress has been made towards resolving historical concerns about the conceptual ambiguity (for an overview, see 3 ) of MT, its definition (for a chronology of primary MT definitions, see 4 ) and its measurement (for a summary of existing MT instruments, see 5 ). Most prominent conceptual models share cognitive (eg, generalised self-efficacy), emotional (eg, regulation of emotions) and behavioural (eg, perseverance) features thought to be central to MT. Scholars generally agree that MT is a psychological resource that enables athletes to initiate and sustain goal-oriented efforts towards achieving optimal levels of performance in the face of stressors that vary in duration, frequency and intensity (eg, 6–8 ). However, there remain several areas of conceptual ambiguity surrounding MT (for additional details, see 4 9 ), which highlight some of the challenges sport personnel (eg, coaches, trainers, sport psychology practitioners) are likely to encounter as they evaluate the quality of MT interventions that have been tested and make decisions about which approaches are suitable for targeting the MT of athletes they work with.

MT development in sport

A number of qualitative studies have explored the experiences of athletes, coaches and sport psychologists to understand the developmental process of MT (for a review, see 10 ). Although there have recently been reservations about whether targeted interventions to improve MT are merited (eg, 11 ), most findings have revealed a complex, long-term trajectory of MT development in athletes that may be cultivated independently or conjunctively by features of the sporting environment (eg, motivational climate) and experiences that occur outside of sport (eg, critical life events).

Given the potential to promote MT by adapting sporting environments (eg, 12 ), controllable features of the sport context (eg, training conditions) are of particular interest to many stakeholders (eg, 13 ). Nonetheless, practitioners seem restricted by the lack of evidence-based information on best practices for developing and maintaining MT. 14 15 In light of recent events where training programmes designed to test and train MT have resulted in hospitalisation or death of elite-level athletes, 16 17 progress towards evidence-based MT training practices requires an improved understanding of effective strategies for promoting MT. Thus, it appears necessary to take stock of and comprehensively evaluate the efficacy of empirically tested MT interventions that have emerged over the last two decades.

Statement of purpose of the present study

Several narrative and systematic reviews addressing different aspects of MT (eg, developmental processes, success in sport) have been published (eg, 1 4 10 11 ). Following the PRISMA guidelines (see 18 ), the current review builds on the existing literature in two main ways. First, there has been no attempt to systematically collate all available empirical evidence on the efficacy of MT training in sport from observational and pre-test and post-test experimental studies published up to 2019. The PRISMA guidelines provide a framework for systematically evaluating the available evidence on MT interventions in sport, which is advantageous because it eliminates bias 19 and is a useful reporting approach for practitioners interested in using the findings to inform their intervention work. 20 Second, a meta-analysis is performed to summarise effect sizes across studies and generate more precise estimates of intervention effects by combining estimates reported in individual studies. 21 Quantitative, qualitative and mixed-methods observational and experimental studies that have been conducted on MT interventions in sport are reviewed and, where available, effect sizes at post-test are summarised. Thus, the purpose of this study is to systematically review and meta-analyse existing evidence to address the following research question: Are there any effective, empirically based interventions designed to train MT in sport?

Protocol and registration

Methods of the systematic review process and meta-analysis were determined and described in advance. They were documented in a review protocol (see online supplementary material .). The protocol pre-determined the purposes and processes of the systematic review, thereby limiting the probability of bias. 22 Although this systematic review was not registered, the protocol was not modified during the research process.

Supplementary data

Eligibility criteria, types of studies.

The study protocols included quantitative, qualitative and mixed-methods observational studies and pre-test and post-test experiments studying the effect of MT interventions on MT levels of athletes. Case studies were excluded. No publication date restriction was imposed, but the studies were limited to those written in English.

Types of participants

Participants included those of any age or gender involved in a sport where they received any level of MT intervention (for the purposes of this systematic review, the term ‘MT intervention’ was applied broadly to include studies that used any type of psychological and/or physical approach designed specifically to target MT in athletes, as well as studies that evaluated changes in MT as a byproduct of athletic training protocols that were not necessarily targeting MT). MT training was defined as any type of psychological and/or physical strategies that were prescribed to athletes aiming to influence their MT levels in relation to their sport.

Types of interventions

Studies that address physical and/or psychological interventions targeting MT in sport were included in this review.

Types of outcome measures

Self-reported and other-reported MT (eg, athletes assessed by their coaches) scores was the primary outcome measure of treatment effect. MT scores were acquired through various measures of MT (includes instruments developed specifically to measure MT, as well as other instruments that were used by researchers to make inferences about athletes’ MT (eg, 23 )).

Information sources

The authors identified studies by searching the following electronic databases: Embase, Scopus, PubMed and SPORTDiscus. The last search was run on 22 November 2019.

This study can be repeated or updated through the use of the following search terms: (1) Embase: ‘mental toughness’ OR ‘mentally tough’ AND (‘sport’/exp OR sport OR ‘sports’) AND english/lim; (2) Scopus: (“mental* tough*” AND sport*) AND (LIMIT-TO (DOCTYPE, “ar”) OR LIMIT-TO (DOCTYPE, “re”) OR LIMIT-TO (DOCTYPE, “ip”)) AND (LIMIT-TO (Language, “English”)); (3) PubMed: ((Mental* AND Tough* [Title/Abstract] AND sport* [Title/Abstract])) AND english[Language]; (4) SPORTDiscus: TI (“mental* tough*” AND sport*) OR AB (“mental* tough*” AND sport*) OR (“mental* tough*” AND sport*).

Study selection

Two reviewers were involved in the process of study selection. After identifying the keywords and the databases, one of the reviewers performed the initial search (ie, identification) and screening (see figure 1 ). Next, both reviewers re-examined the process up to that point, which included an evaluation of the initial set of records that were identified after screening. No additional searches were performed. Lastly, based on the existing recommendations of screening records, 24 both reviewers performed an eligibility assessment independently. There were no disagreements.

Flow of information through the different phases of the systematic review.

Data collection process

A data extraction sheet was developed, but it was not pilot tested. Both reviewers extracted the data from the included studies (see Data items). Disagreements about extracted data were resolved by discussion between the reviewers until consensus was reached. Lead authors of two selected studies were contacted to acquire additional numerical data that were needed. The requested information was not provided, leading to the exclusion of those two studies from the meta-analysis (ie, 23 25 ).

The authors extracted the following information from each of the included studies: (1) general characteristics of the publication: title, author/s, year of publication, institution of corresponding author/s, country of corresponding author/s, name of journal and purpose of the study; (2) characteristics of the participants: sport type, sport level, type of participants (eg, athletes, coaches), and quantity, age and sex of athlete participants; (3) intervention—type and duration; (4) research strategy—overall research design, number of experimental groups and number of participants per group; (5) instruments—type of MT instrument used and rater/informant of MT (eg, athlete, coach); (6) analysis and results—primary statistical analysis, main outcomes and variables included (see online supplementary table S1 ).

Risk of bias in individual studies

Controlled intervention studies.

The two reviewers worked independently and used the Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PED ro ) scale to ascertain the validity of the seven controlled intervention studies (CISs), three of which were randomised controlled trials (RCTs; for details on this approach, see 26 ). Reviewers evaluated those seven studies against the PED ro criteria using a dichotomous scale ( No =0; Yes =1). With the exception of the first criterion (ie, eligibility criteria were specified), which affects external rather than internal validity, total quality scores were created by summing the number of affirmative answers to the items on the scale (see online supplementary table S2 ). The total score (range=0–10) reflects the internal validity of the study and whether it contains sufficient statistical information to make it interpretable. A higher score is representative of a study with higher methodological quality. Studies with scores of ≥6 have a low risk of bias. 27

Single-group pre-test–post-test designs

The two reviewers independently assessed the four studies meeting criteria for inclusion using the ‘Quality Assessment Tool for Before–After (Pre–Post) Studies With No Control Group’. 28 Reviewers rated 12 items designed to assess the quality of each study using a categorical rating approach (see online supplementary table S3a ). Thereafter, reviewers evaluated for risk of bias and provided an overall quality rating by holistically evaluating their responses to the items for each study. Reviewers used an ordinal scale of Good , Fair and Poor to rate the quality of each study (see online supplementary table S3b ).

Single-subject design

The two reviewers independently evaluated the one study that met criteria for inclusion using the ‘Quality Indicators’ measure (for details on this approach, see 29 ). The measure contains 28 indicators that are distributed across eight domains (one to six indicators per domain) of methodological quality (see online supplementary table S4 ). In this study, six of the original indicators (ie, 6.4, 6.8, 6.9, 7.6, 8.1 and 8.3) were excluded from evaluation because they apply only to group comparisons. For a study to be characterised as ‘methodologically sound’, it has to meet the standards of all the quality indicators.

Summary measures

The primary outcome of interest is self-reported and other-reported MT ratings. MT scores were translated into standardised variables. The intended summary effect measures are the standardised mean differences (SMDs), which can be calculated for both between-subjects and within-subjects designs. The SMDs were estimated in accordance with the design of each study. For a discussion of the estimation of SMDs for between-subjects and within-subject designs, see, 30 and for the estimation of SMDs for single case designs, see. 31 The SMDs, along with their CIs and sampling variances, were calculated using the ‘escalc’ command of the ‘metafor’ package 32 in R . 33

Planned methods of analysis

The meta-analysis was completed using a random-effects model. As such, the model treats each effect size estimate as having been sampled at random from a universe of possible effects, and the estimates will vary between studies. The model estimates this random effect as a variance component to provide an estimate of how much MT intervention effects might be expected to vary between studies. The model also includes a fixed-effect estimate of the MT intervention effect, which is the average standardised effect across studies. The random-effects model can be expressed as

where μ is the average effect of MT intervention and u i is the random error term distributed N 0 , τ 2 . The random-effects model parameters were estimated using the ‘rma.mv’ command of the ‘metafor’ package in R with the restricted maximum-likelihood estimator. The random-effect and fixed-effect estimates are reported along with their associated 95% CIs.

Risk of bias across studies

Except for bias related to search terms and databases used, we acknowledge that searching databases does not ensure all relevant studies were discovered during the search process. For example, unpublished technical reports and master’s theses were likely under-represented. In addition, publication bias towards positive results may have had an influence on the inclusion of articles in the meta-analysis. The potential for publication bias was investigated using a funnel plot, which graphically represents the relationship between observed effect sizes and estimation precision (ie, standard errors). Ideally, the plot appears symmetrical and points on the plot form an inverted funnel. Studies with smaller sizes tend to be scattered widely at the bottom of the plot. However, studies with larger sample sizes typically have greater precision in the estimates of effected sizes and are centrally located at the top of the funnel. Asymmetrical plots or blank spots within plots (eg, lower right-hand corner) are evidence of potential bias.

Additional analyses

Due to the small number of articles that met the criteria for inclusion in the meta-analysis, the potential effects of moderator variables were not examined in this study.

The systematic review consisted of four phases (see figure 1 ). The first phase (Identification) resulted in 1435 results. The second phase (Screening) entailed automatically and manually removing duplicate records, reducing the total to 324 articles. In the third phase (Eligibility), the remaining articles were checked via the eligibility criteria determined in the Protocol (eg, English only). As a result, 312 articles were excluded. All of the 12 studies 23 25 34–43 (articles 44 and 40 were both part of a larger mixed-methods project that resulted in two separate publications, one involving the qualitative component the other the quantitative component; the qualitative study 44 did not adequately fulfil the inclusion criteria on its own and was therefore excluded from the review) that entered the fourth phase (Included) were publications in peer-reviewed journals. Two studies for which requested information from lead authors could not be acquired (ie, 23 25 ) were excluded from the meta-analysis.

Study characteristics

The most important and relevant-to-the-review-question characteristics for each of the 12 studies included in this review are presented in online supplementary table S1 (eg, instrument used to collect data on MT, rater/informant of MT, type and duration of intervention). A summary of methodological trends based on extracted information is presented in figure 2 .

Summary of methodological quality, design-specific limitations, and shared limitations affecting bias and generalisability of reviewed studies, along with recommendations for future mental toughness (MT) interventions.

Risk of bias within studies

As depicted in figure 3 , final PED ro scores for most of the CISs ( k =5) were <6 (M=5.14, SD=1.36). In general, no study satisfied all criteria (see online supplementary table S2 ). Few studies blinded participants ( k =1), the therapists/facilitators administering the treatment ( k =2) or the assessors ( k =2). Only two studies appeared to have used allocation concealment. A small number of studies indicated that group allocation was randomised ( k =3) or specified participant eligibility criteria ( k =4). Similarly, most studies ( k =5) reported a response rate of ≤85% among participants who were initially allocated to groups.

Total PED ro scores for k =6 studies.

On the other hand, in all seven studies, the results of between-group comparisons were reported. In most studies ( k =6), all subjects received treatment or control conditions as allocated (ie, ‘intention to treat’) and groups were similar at baseline. A majority of studies ( k =5) provided point measures and estimates of variability (eg, SD) for at least one primary outcome.

Single group pre-test–post-test designs

Reviewer evaluations of the four studies are presented in online supplementary table S3a (Criterion 12 of the rating instrument was not applicable to any of the studies (ie, no group-level data)) and S3b. Both raters assessed the quality of the studies as Fair ( k =1) or Poor ( k =3). Quality was strengthened when the research question was explicitly defined ( k =4), eligibility criteria for selecting participants were described ( k =4), formal statistical tests were used and levels of significance reported ( k =4), the results could be extrapolated because participants appeared to be representative of the population from which they were drawn ( k =3), and the intervention ( k =2) and the outcome measures ( k =2) were described in detail.

Concerning areas of improvement, no study blinded the outcome assessors or measured outcomes at multiple times before and after the intervention. A majority of studies did not enrol all subjects who met the inclusion criteria ( k =3). At least half of the studies had a follow-up response rate of <80% ( k =2) and did not provide a clear definition of the intervention or details about consistency of intervention delivery ( k =2). There were also cases (eg, 38 ) where relevant information was not reported (eg, Item 5; statistical power) or the raters could not determine if a criterion was satisfied (eg, Item 3; sample representative of population). The design weaknesses across these studies make it difficult to determine the extent to which results can reliably be attributed to the effects of the interventions (ie, internal validity).

The results of the assessment of the one single-subject study are presented in online supplementary table S4 . This baseline-intervention-baseline study (ie, ABA) did not meet indicators 6.6 (ie, there were fewer than three data points in the baseline phase without justification by the authors) and 7.4 (ie, there were fewer than three data points per phase without justification by the authors). Thus, the study did not meet all of the quality indicators and could not be considered ‘methodologically sound’.

Results of individual studies

Figure 4 presents the summary statistics (ie, standard mean difference and squared SE) and effect estimates for the criterion of MT in each of the included studies. Unpublished data were not included.

Summary data and estimated effects (with 95% CIs) for studies included in the quantitative analysis ( k =10). DT, delayed treatment condition; SMD, standardised mean difference; T, treatment condition.

Synthesis of results

The estimated SMDs ranged from −0.08 to 2.76, which are trivial to large effects. The estimated SMDs and sampling variances are shown in figure 4 (Mahoney et al 41 included a delayed treatment group which received the same MT intervention as the immediate treatment group after the waiting period; both groups were included in this meta-analysis to show overall effects of the MT training programme). 41 The studies with the strongest effects were those with the most focused and targeted interventions for increasing MT. The average effect of MT interventions was 0.80 (0.31 ≤ μ ^ ≤ 1.28) SD; that is, MT scores increased by 0.80 SD following MT intervention. This is a large effect by conventional standards. The values contained within the CI were at least medium effect sizes, which lends support to the effectiveness of MT intervention. The variance of this estimate was 0.56 (0.18 ≤ τ ^ 2 ≤ 1.89). The width of the CI indicates that the variability of the effect sizes may not be precise in that the variability across studies may be small (0.18) or large (1.89). This width is likely due to the small number of studies included in the meta-analysis and presence of a very large effect found in Ajilchi et al . 35 Overall, a large positive effect was found to support the efficacy of interventions for increasing MT in a variety of athlete groups.

The funnel plot is presented in figure 5 . Deviations from the ideal distribution were difficult to identify with only 10 studies. One study might be an outlier, but not enough information was available to definitively make this determination. The open areas of the plot may be due to sample size and might not be indicative of bias. Regardless, an equal number of points was found on both sides of the vertex, which provides evidence in favour of an absence of publication bias.

Funnel plot depicting risk of bias across studies included in the quantitative analysis ( k =10).

Summary of main findings

This is the first systematic review of observational and experimental designs on MT development and training in sport. Twelve studies were identified for inclusion in the review, only three of which did not meet criteria for high risk of bias. The accompanying meta-analysis that was performed with 10 studies revealed a large effect for interventions targeting MT development.

Although there has been a widely held belief that MT may be developed through intervention and training initiatives (see 15 ), a mixture of positive (eg, 37 ) and null effects (eg, 41 ) for MT training efforts have been reported in the literature. For the first time, the current review offers a synthesis of existing intervention research that supports the developmental potential of MT via specialised training approaches and programmes. This is an encouraging finding for sport personnel (eg, coaches, practitioners) who are interested in using theoretically grounded and evidenced-based approaches to safely and effectively promote MT among athletes they work with. However, wide variability in efficacy across studies and the high risk of bias identified for a majority of studies suggests that caution should be applied when deciding on the validity and practical utility of the MT training approaches reported in studies included in this review. While the potential to development MT is promising, there is little evidence to suggest that any particular approach to training MT in sport should be favoured over another. Thus, more rigorous research is needed to strengthen the body of evidence on the efficacy of MT development and training approaches before a determination can be made about which empirically based MT interventions ought to be prioritised when attempting to improve athletes’ MT (see figure 2 ).

Implications for practice

There is currently insufficient evidence to advocate a specific approach to developing MT, and practitioners should be aware of the level of quality of MT research before adopting any of the interventions used in the recent literature. However, there are several findings of this review that may assist practitioners with avenues for cultivating MT in sport. First, two studies investigated the effect of a physical training-only approach on athletes’ MT. Neither intervention was found to be effective in building MT. The remaining MT interventions were theoretically grounded in psychology (eg, psychological skills training), some of which were of moderate to high methodological quality and were found to be effective (eg, 35 ). Consequently, until a larger quantity of studies examining the effects of physical training approaches (either alone or in combination with psychological approaches) on MT are amassed, it would be prudent to implement such approaches to develop MT with caution. Second, numerous qualitative studies have found that the natural developmental trajectory of MT tends to occur incrementally over a long-term period (see 10 ). Only two studies included in this review employed longitudinal designs exceeding 6 months, but both of those studies reported large changes in MT. There was much greater variability in outcomes for the MT interventions that were briefer in duration. Thus, the likelihood of successfully improving may be enhanced if MT training initiatives are implemented gradually over a longer period of time (see figure 2 for a summary of methodological limitations of existing research on MT interventions in sport and recommendations for future research).

Implications for research

The largest proportion of studies included in this review ( k =7) used controlled designs to assess the efficacy of MT training approaches, but only three could be categorised as RCTs. There is a need to improve the methodological rigour of MT intervention research to address common sources of potential bias identified in this review, including the prioritisation of RCTs as a gold standard deductive approach for assessing the treatment efficacy of MT interventions.

Although psychological interventions impose some challenges to eliminating all risks of bias (eg, blinding of participants), random assignment, concealment of allocation, blinding of therapists and assessors of outcomes, and implementing measures to reduce attrition are critical areas to address in future controlled designs. Because multi-group experimental designs are not always feasible in competitive sporting environments, alternative methodologies (ie, single-group and single-subject designs) were frequently employed to evaluate the efficacy of MT training initiatives ( k =5). Many of the factors that affected the quality of the CISs also applied to the alternative approaches used in studies that were reviewed (eg, non-blinded assessors of outcomes, low follow-up response rates). Multiple baseline and post-treatment assessments were also missing from all such studies. These factors ought to be strengthened in subsequent studies to maximise the utility of non-controlled trials and case study approaches for investigating MT interventions. Regardless of the methodology that researchers employ, improved reporting of methods is needed to enhance the interpretability and replicability of MT intervention research (see figure 2 ).

Considering the long-term developmental process of MT, it is surprising that longer post-intervention follow-up periods were not reported in any of the studies included in this review. To assess the long-term stability of improvements in MT acquired via training approaches, longitudinal post-treatment follow-ups should accompany future MT interventions. Collectively evaluating the sample characteristics of the studies reviewed, it is apparent that female athletes have been under-represented in MT intervention research. Consistent with the general trend towards disproportionate sampling of male athletes that occurs in applied sport psychology research, 45 further research involving female athletes is needed to improve the generalisability of MT interventions beyond male athletes.

Although the studies reviewed included athletes participating in various sports, evidence on sport-specific differences in MT attributes suggests that interventions ought to be developed with consideration to the cultural and contextual nuances of MT that exist within each sport. 3 46 Most studies included in this review ( k =8) involved groups of athletes from more developed, higher-income countries that are characterised principally by individualistic value systems (ie, Australia, Canada, UK, USA). The efficacy of MT interventions has largely been unexplored among athletes from countries in Africa, Asia and South America. Prevailing value systems (eg, collectivistic principles) in many countries from those regions are likely to influence local understandings of MT 1 in ways that could affect how MT training in sport is approached (ie, cultural invariance of treatment approaches). As researchers continue to explore appropriate strategies to develop MT in athletes, it would be important to examine whether customised MT interventions that are sensitive cultural (eg, societal value systems, ideals of MT in specific sports) and contextual dynamics yield superior outcomes compared with more generic approaches to developing MT. Consistent with the findings of other reviews on MT (eg, 1 11 ), many studies included in this review used a single informant approach to measure MT ( k =10) acquired via athlete self-report ( k =9). With the exception of one study (ie, 23 ), MT was measured using instruments designed specifically to capture the psychological attributes of MT. Only three studies evaluated sport performance metrics alongside MT. Multi-informant approaches that assess psychological and behavioural indicators of MT could be integrated into future research to triangulate and more comprehensively evaluate the efficacy of MT interventions. Furthermore, studies that measure objective indicators of athletic performance are likely to offer supplementary evidence for adjudicating the internal validity of interventions that target MT 1 4 (see figure 2 ).

Limitations

Despite the robust research design, there are also some limitations of this systematic review and meta-analysis. A thorough attempt was made to identify all relevant studies, but there is the possibility that relevant research (eg, unpublished technical reports, master’s theses) was not discovered. Second, the number of studies that met the pre-established criteria for inclusion in the meta-analysis was 10, which limited the possible analytic techniques that could be used with adequate statistical power. For example, a higher quantity of studies would have enabled additional analyses of potential moderating variables (eg, length of training) to be performed, which may have yielded insights into differences in the effectiveness of MT training approaches that were found across the studies reviewed. Third, MT was measured using psychological instrumentation. Measurement error may have influenced the results of the meta-analysis, but the expectation of bias was small because the instruments were associated with evidence of acceptable reliability.

In 2008, Connaughton and colleagues concluded that there was a need for researchers to abandon anecdotally based investigations and focus entirely on empirically based MT research. 47 This review is the first to synthesise existing empirical research on the effectiveness of MT training from observational designs and experimental designs. Therefore, the authors are unable to compare the results of this meta-analysis with others. Although a positive effect was observed for increasing levels of MT among a variety of sports-related groups as a result of one or more types of intervention, the quality of the studies reviewed should be considered alongside interpretations that are made about the results. Based on the evidence presented in this review, we extend the call made by Jones et al 48 approximately 20 years ago for a more scientific approach to the study of MT by emphasising the need to strengthen the methodological rigour in designing, implementing and evaluating the effectiveness of MT training approaches.

Funding: The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

Competing interests: None declared.

Patient consent for publication: Not required.

Provenance and peer review: Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.

Data availability statement: All data relevant to the study are included in the article or uploaded as supplementary information.

Author note: References marked with an asterisk indicate studies included in the meta-analysis.

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New study reveals gender bias in sport research. It’s yet another hurdle to progress in women’s sport

Research Fellow & Psychologist, Mental Health in Elite Sports, The University of Melbourne

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Associate Professor & Clinical Psychologist, Mental Health in Elite Sports, The University of Melbourne

Disclosure statement

Courtney Walton receives funding through a McKenzie Postdoctoral Research Fellowship at the University of Melbourne. He advises a number of elite sports codes and organisations nationally.

Caroline Gao receives salary support from the Department of Health, State Government of Victoria for unrelated projects. She is an investigator on projects funded by NHMRC, NIH, HCF and MRFF. She is affiliated with Orygen and Monash University.

Simon Rice receives funding from the NHMRC, MRFF and The University of Melbourne. He advises a number of elite sports codes and organisations internationally.

University of Melbourne provides funding as a founding partner of The Conversation AU.

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Throughout history, sports have been guilty of prioritising certain groups at the exclusion of others. There has been a pervasive idea that being an athlete requires the demonstration of traditionally masculine traits. Any individual not doing so was, and often still is, susceptible to being harassed, sidelined, or ostracised.

Indeed, femininity has historically been considered nonathletic. Research finds some athletes describe a perception that being a “woman” and an “athlete” are almost opposing identities .

For these reasons and more, women’s sport has been held back in ways that men’s sport has not. While progress is certainly now being made, our new research , published this week, finds large gender gaps persist in sports research.

We found sport psychology research studies – which inform the strategies athletes use to reach peak performance – have predominantly used male participants.

For example, across the sport psychology research we looked at between 2010 and 2020, 62% of the participants were men and boys. Further, around 22% of the sport psychology studies we examined had samples with only male participants. In contrast, this number was just 7% for women and girls.

Women may experience sport and exercise differently from men. As in other areas of medicine, an evidence base that’s predominately informed by men’s experiences and bodies will lead to insufficient, ineffective outcomes and recommendations for women.

Some progress has been made

Progress in women’s sport is evident, and continues every year. Gender gaps across recreational and professional sport are slowly narrowing.

Girls’ involvement in sport continues to grow, with the number participating in high school sports in the United States increasing by 262% between 1973 and 2018 . In Australia, participation in sport among women and girls between 2015-2019 grew at a faster rate than among men and boys .

Improved opportunity and exposure has also occurred in professional settings, and public interest has increased significantly. For example, the 2020 Women’s Cricket World Cup saw attendance records tumble, with the final played at the MCG in front of 86,174 fans .

Many sports now enter a complex new era of professionalisation, as we’re seeing in AFLW .

Despite positive trends, critical issues remain.

Read more: The Tokyo Olympics are billed as the first gender equal Games, but women still lack opportunities in sport

Gender bias in research

Any growth in women’s sport must be supported by the underlying evidence base that informs it.

As mental health researchers in the field of elite sport, we aim to make real-world impacts through rigorous applied research. Our team has previously explored gendered mental health experiences among elite athletes, finding women report more significant symptoms of mental ill-health and more frequent negative events like discrimination or financial hardship .

Research like this is critical for informing the services and systems which support peak performance. But the research has to represent its target, or else progress will be limited.

It’s now well understood that the field of medical and scientific research is rife with examples of the ways in which unequal participation by gender has caused negative health effects. With men’s experiences and bodies considered the norm , inaccurate understanding of causes, tools, and treatments have been frequent.

Medical and scientific research in sport is not exempt.

Our findings

As sports become increasingly competitive and pressurised, sport psychology is critical to supporting athletes within these high-stress environments.

Following concerns about gender bias in scientific research, we wanted to understand whether the field of sport and exercise psychology was appropriately representative.

We recorded the gender of study participants across research published in key sport and exercise psychology journals in 2010, 2015 and 2020, to estimate gender balance over the last decade. This included studies on topics such as: physical and mental health, personality and motivation, coaching and athlete development, leadership, and mental skills.

Across more than 600 studies and nearly 260,000 participants, there were significant levels of gender imbalance.

This imbalance varied, depending on the area being investigated. While sport psychology research focuses on performance and athletes, exercise psychology is more focused on areas of health and participation. Our findings showed that the likelihood of including male rather than female participants in sport psychology studies was almost four times as high as for exercise psychology.

We also identified that those studies which specifically explored themes relating to performance (such as coaching, mental skills, or decision-making) all featured samples with fewer women and girls, as compared to those focused on topics like health, well-being, or activism.

What our findings mean

Our findings, along with those of others , hint at a number of worrying conclusions.

Women and girls in sport are likely to be instructed in strategies and approaches informed by research that does not sufficiently represent them.

Among many factors, topics like coaching methods, injury management, and performance psychology are critical to sports performance. For some or all of these, women athletes’ experiences may differ from those of men.

Changes to policy have made a significant difference to gender equity in sport. But researchers and funding bodies must follow suit, ensuring we develop the understanding and methods to properly represent all groups we seek to serve. Only then can women’s sport truly flourish.

• Sport science
• Sport psychology
• Gender bias
• Gender bias in academia
• Exercise psychology
• Gender bias in medicine
• Gender bias in sports

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• Published: 31 August 2023

The impact of sports participation on individuals’ subjective well-being: the mediating role of class identity and health

• Ningning Liu   ORCID: orcid.org/0009-0008-2715-4110 1 &
• Qikang Zhong   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-4911-2233 2  

Humanities and Social Sciences Communications volume  10 , Article number:  544 ( 2023 ) Cite this article

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Although studies have explored the relationship between physical activity and subjective well-being, exploration of the mechanisms underlying the effects of sports participation on subjective well-being remains limited. In the context of promoting the deep integration of national fitness and national health in China, we explore the patterns and differences in the effects of sports participation on the subjective well-being of different populations and explore the underlying mechanisms of the effects of sports participation on individual subjective well-being based on body and society theory. Using data from the China General Social Survey, this study used multiple linear regression models, propensity score matching methods, quantile regression and chain mediation models to explore the relationship between sport participation and subjective well-being, and further elaborated the mediating role of subjective class identity and health in it. The results of the study showed that sports participation significantly and positively affected individual subjective well-being. The results of quantile regression and heterogeneity tests showed that the effect of sports participation on individual subjective well-being showed a significant quantile effect and group heterogeneity. Sports participation had a more significant effect on the well-being of older adults. The results of the mediation effect test showed that sports participation increased subjective well-being by enhancing individuals’ subjective class identity and health, respectively, while subjective class identity and health had a significant chain mediation effect. Based on the findings of the study this paper provides some practical suggestions for improving the subjective well-being of residents, especially the elderly, which will provide some valuable references for the next studies on residents’ well-being and life satisfaction.

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Introduction.

Improving people’s well-being is an important development indicator recognized by the international community, and people’s pursuit and aspiration for a better life point to the concern for individual subjective well-being. Subjective well-being is an individual’s reflective cognition and emotional assessment of their life state (Diener, 2006 ). The multiple fields involved in subjective well-being have caused this topic to receive long-term attention from disciplines such as psychology, sociology and economics. Existing research has examined the effects of age (Becker & Trautmann, 2022 ), income (Toshkov, 2022 ), social networks (Huang et al., 2019 ), social capital (Xu et al., 2023 ), subjective health (Mohammadi et al., 2022 ), and depressive symptoms on subjective well-being (Soosova et al., 2021 ). It has also been suggested that economic factors and lifestyle changes have the greatest impact on individuals’ subjective well-being (Okulicz-Kozaryn & Mazelis, 2017 ). Based on these studies, what we would like to explore further is the effect of physical activity as a lifestyle or as a form of leisure on individuals’ subjective well-being. In China, the implementation of the Health China Strategy and the National Fitness Strategy has emphasized and highlighted the comprehensive value and multiple functions of sports participation in improving people’s health, promoting all-around human development, and promoting economic and social development. Although studies have verified the significant positive effects of physical exercise and physical activity on subjective well-being (Yuan & You, 2022 ), they have generally focused on the effects of physical activity on well-being, with limited analysis of the mechanisms underlying the effects of physical activity on subjective well-being. In addition, many studies have focused on the effects of physical activity on the well-being of specific age groups (Jiang et al., 2021 ; Panza et al., 2019 ), which does not clearly show the differences in the effects of physical activity participation on the subjective well-being of different age groups and the patterns and characteristics of the effects of physical activity participation on well-being . Therefore, our study expects to construct a theoretical framework for analyzing the effects of sports participation on subjective well-being based on body and society theory, and then explore the intrinsic pathways of the effects of physical activity participation on individuals’ subjective well-being.

Based on our research objectives, the rest of the paper is organized as follows: the second part is the literature review and research hypothesis. The third section discusses the required data, variable measurement, and estimation strategies. The fourth part provides an empirical analysis of the effect of sports participation on individuals’ subjective well-being. This section includes the use of propensity score matching to address sample selection bias, the use of quantile regression to explore patterns in the effect of sports participation on individual subjective well-being, a test of heterogeneity regarding age, and a test of chain mediating effects. The fifth section presents the conclusions of the paper and discusses them accordingly.

Literature review and research hypothesis

Physical activity, subjective class identity, and health.

From the perspective of the sociology of the body, the body becomes a kind of planning for modern people and a constituent part of the individual’s self-identity. The planning and devotion to the body give people a means of self-expression (Shilling, 2012 ). A typical example of using the body as a project is the individual’s quest for a healthy body. In this process, individuals expect to build a healthy body through daily behaviors such as fitness and diet to alleviate their concerns about body presentation. Physical activity plays an important role in shaping individuals into healthy bodies. Perceived health plays an important mediating role in physical activity participation and higher well-being or life satisfaction (Lera-Lopez et al., 2017 ). A growing body of research points to a positive correlation between physical activity and perceived health, physical health and mental health (Humphreys et al., 2014 ; Wang et al., 2022 ). In the process of long-term stable physical activity participation, participants can not only improve muscle strength (Shen et al., 2018 ), enhance cognitive ability and reduce the incidence of obesity directly through physical activity (Petridou et al., 2019 ; Sewell et al., 2021 ), but also gain a sense of pleasure and reduce anxiety and depression, thus enhancing the individual’s mental health (Buecker et al., 2021 ; Fortier & Morgan, 2022 ).

Physical fitness as a “soft technology” is not only a pathway to health but also an important means of communicating lifestyle and self-identity (Yongfeng & Ge, 2021 ). Featherstone ( 2007 ) points out that the body represents the self and that the relationship between the self and the body can be re-examined through physical fitness and other body technologies. In this study, we shifted the perspective of identity to subjective class identity. Class identity is an individual’s perception of his or her position in the class structure (Jackman & Jackman, 1973 ), and it is an individual’s identification of his or her social class based on certain criteria. The positive correlation between physical activity and subjective class identity has been verified in studies (Yang et al., 2022 ). This relationship between physical activity and subjective class identity can be further understood in terms of the effect of leisure style on subjective class identity. As lifestyle and consumption patterns have become mechanisms of social exclusion (Duncan & Duncan, 2001 ), tools of social competition and mean of identity construction (Cerneviciute, 2008 ). Physical activity is a form of leisure, so we cannot ignore its influence on an individual’s subjective class identity.

Subjective class identity is closely related to health. Unlike objective socioeconomic status, subjective class identity emphasizes one’s subjective consciousness, evaluation and feelings, and is a judgment of one’s social status and social identity (Peilin, 2005 ). In the subject’s perception of social status and identity, the individual will acquire a subjective status that is different from the objective one in accordance with life experiences and values (Adler et al., 2000 ). In the process of forming subjective class identity, individuals need to be compared with other groups, and in social comparison, those who subjectively feel inferior may develop a sense of relative deprivation (Xin, 2002 ), and the perception of relative deprivation will have a negative impact on individual health (Wang et al., 2023 ). This demonstrates the close association between individuals’ perceptions of their class and their physical and mental health (Adler et al., 2000 ; Garza et al., 2017 ). Related studies point out that the impact of subjective evaluation of social status on individual health has exceeded the impact of objective socioeconomic status on individual health (Hoebel & Lampert, 2020 ), Subjective status assessments provide key information for understanding health disparities (Cundiff & Matthews, 2017 ).

Subjective class identity and subjective well-being

Subjective class identity is closely related to subjective well-being (Sani et al., 2010 ; Tang & Tan, 2022 ). Studies on subjective class identity emphasize that stratification includes subjective awareness, evaluation and feelings, and that even objective social stratification cannot be separated from subjective identity (Peilin, 2005 ). Existing research points to differences in the effects of subjective social status and objective socioeconomic status on individual well-being. Sweeting and Hunt ( 2014 ) research on adults and adolescents points out that subjective socioeconomic status is associated with health and well-being, while objective socioeconomic status is less associated with health and well-being. Individuals’ self-rated social status has a higher impact on subjective well-being than objective socioeconomic status, which is driven by a sense of power and social acceptance (Anderson et al., 2012 ). Compared with other groups, residents with lower class status tend to have a sense of relative deprivation, which will affect personal happiness and psychological integration.

Health and subjective well-being

Perceptions of health lead to a positive relationship between physical activity and well-being (Lera-Lopez et al., 2017 ). The positive effect of physical health on subjective well-being has been widely recognized (Garrido et al., 2013 ), and the mediating role of physical and mental health issues such as pain, sleep problems, loneliness, anxiety and boredom in the relationship between lack of physical activity and subjective well-being has also been demonstrated (Gyasi et al., 2023 ). Even though there is a correlation between physical health and mental health, there is a need to be aware of the unique role of different dimensions of health in research (Wang et al., 2022 ) . What we need to be clear about is the relationship between mental health and well-being. This is because existing research often identifies mental health and happiness together as important variables in the analysis of human well-being (Mahmoodi et al., 2022 ; Perneger et al., 2004 ). However, the association and distinction between subjective well-being and mental health have been validated by studies (Chen et al., 2013 ). In our study, we emphasize the difference between mental health and well-being, that is, mental health and well-being are closely but not identically related (Keller, 2020 ), and it is important to note that mental health is a significant predictor of subjective well-being (Burns & Machin, 2010 ; Min, 2019 ).

Based on the above analysis, we constructed the research framework in Fig. 1 and proposed the following research hypotheses for this paper:

Note: A hypothetical model of the relationship between sports participation, subjective class identity, physical and mental health and subjective well-being.

H1: Sports participation has a positive effect on individual subjective well-being.

H2: Subjective class identity has a mediating role in the relationship between sports participation and individual subjective well-being.

H3: Physical and mental health has a mediating role in the relationship between sports participation and individual subjective well-being.

H4: There is a chain mediating role of subjective class identity and physical and mental health in the relationship between sports participation and individual subjective well-being.

Data and methods

Data source.

This article uses data from the Chinese General Social Survey (CGSS) 2017, a national, comprehensive and continuous academic survey launched in 2003. The survey provides data for the promotion of social science research and international comparative studies through the regular and systematic collection of data on various aspects of Chinese people and Chinese society. A total of 12,582 valid samples were completed for the CGSS 2017 data. Considering the research objectives of this paper, the study will exclude samples with missing key variables and those with outliers. The final sample we used contained 3501 observations.

Subjective well-being (SWB) was taken as the dependent variable. The 2017 China General Social Survey used the Subjective Well-being Scale to ask respondents how much they agreed with the 21 views on the scale. Respondents were asked to choose from the following levels of agreement: 1 = Strongly disagree; 2 = Disagree; 3 = Somewhat disagree; 4 = Somewhat agree; 5 = Agree; 6 = Strongly agree. The different levels of agreement were sequentially assigned a value from 1–6. After transforming the opposite statements in the scale, we analyzed the scale reliability. The analysis revealed a Cronbach’s α of 0.844, which indicates that the scale exhibits excellent internal consistency. The sum of the scores on these measures will be used as the value of the subjective well-being variable, with higher scores indicating higher subjective well-being.

Sports participation (SP) was used as the independent variable. The sports participation variable is measured by the question “In the past year, did you regularly engage in physical activity in your free time?” in the China General Social Survey. The survey classified the level of sports participation into five categories, which were “Daily”, “Several times a week”, “Several times a month”, “Several times a year or less” and “Never”. Since occasional participation in physical activity has been shown to be an episodic behavior and physical participation needs to be constant (Wei & Jianyong, 2020 ), we use this approach to treat physical participation as a dichotomous variable. In this study, “every day”, “several times a week” and “several times a month” were considered as regular physical activity participation and were combined and assigned a value of 1, while “several times a year and “never” are considered as not participating in physical activity and are assigned a value of 0.

Subjective class identity (SCI) and physical and mental health (PMH) were used as mediating variables. The CGSS questionnaire divides class identity into 10 levels, with a maximum score of 10 representing the top tier and a minimum score of 1 representing the bottom tier. We measured respondents’ subjective class identity by their responses to the question, “In general, where are you on the social scale?”. We evaluated the physical and mental health of the interviewees by their answers to the questions about self-rated health, physical health and mental health in the CGSS. The CGSS asked respondents “How healthy are you at the moment”, and measured their self-rated health on a scale of 1 to 5 (1 = very unhealthy; 5 = very healthy). About physical health and mental health, the CGSS questionnaire measures how often, over the past four weeks, health problems have affected your work or other daily activities, and how often, over the past 4 weeks, you have felt depressed. Studies have applied this scale to analyze the impact of physical and mental health on the subjective well-being of older people (Qiaolei & Zonghai, 2021 ). We used this as a reference and applied the total score to measure the physical and mental health of respondents. The Cronbach’s α coefficient for this scale in this study was 0.741 and the reliability of the scale was high.

Some variables that might be associated with subjective well-being were controlled. These variables included the respondent’s gender (1 = male, 0 = female), age, marital status (1 = married with the spouse, 0 = no spouse), years of education (never had any education = 0, private school = 2, primary school = 6, junior high school = 9, senior high school = 12, vocational high school, junior college, technical school = 13, university college (adult higher education) = 14, university college (formal higher education) = 15, undergraduate (adult higher education) = 15, undergraduate (formal higher education) = 16, postgraduate = 19), self-assessed personal socioeconomic status (PSES) (1 = lower class, 2 = lower middle class, 3 = middle class, 4 = upper middle class, 5 = upper class) and self-assessed household socioeconomic status (HSES) (1 = well below average, 2 = below average, 3 = average, 4 = above average, 5 = well above average).

Analytic strategies

Multiple linear regression was applied to examine the impact of sports participation on residents’ subjective well-being. In addition, when analyzing the effect of sport participation on individuals’ subjective well-being, it is necessary to take into account the problem of possible selective bias between individuals’ sport participation and their subjective well-being. Therefore, this paper uses the propensity score matching method proposed by Rosenbaum and Rubin ( 1983 ) to construct a counterfactual framework to correct for selection bias, so as to obtain the net effect of individuals’ sport participation on their subjective well-being and thus increase the robustness of the results. In a further analysis, we used quantile regression to explore the distribution of the effects of sport participation across different levels of subjective well-being. The use of quantile regression allows not only for robustness checks of the results of multiple linear regressions but also for analysis of the differentiation effects of sport participation between individuals with different levels of subjective well-being. Finally, we further explored the pathways inherent in the impact of sport participation on individual subjective well-being using Model 6 in the SPSS plugin PROCESS provided by Hayes ( 2017 ).

Descriptive statistics and correlation analysis

Table 1 presents the means, standard deviations and correlations for all variables. The Pearson correlation coefficient shows that the correlations between gender, marital status, and individual subjective well-being are not significant. Among the control variables, age, years of education, self-rated personal socioeconomic status, and self-rated family socioeconomic status have significant correlations with individual subjective well-being. There is a significant correlation between the key independent variable sport participation and individual subjective well-being; the mediating variables subjective class identity and physical and mental health are also significantly correlated with individual subjective well-being. Among them, all are positively correlated, except for age, which is negatively correlated with subjective well-being. In addition, there is a significant correlation between the mediating variable of subjective class identity and the mediating variable of physical and mental health. Based on the results of the correlation analysis, we will further verify the effect of physical activity participation on individuals’ subjective well-being.

Basic regression results

We further explored the effects of each predictor variable on individual subjective well-being through a hierarchical regression analysis, the results of which are displayed in Table 2 . Model 1 is the baseline model, to which control variables were added to analyze the effect of the main control variables on individuals’ subjective well-being. Age, years of education, self-rated personal socioeconomic status, and self-rated family socioeconomic status all have a significant effect on subjective well-being. In Model 2, we added the key independent variable of this study, sports participation, and the results showed that participation in physical activity significantly increased individuals’ subjective well-being. Model 3 adds mediating variables to Model 2. The results show that both subjective class identity and physical and mental health have a significant positive effect on subjective well-being, while the regression coefficients of the sports participation variable are reduced but still significant at the 1% level after the addition of the two mediating variables, which confirms hypothesis 1. At the same time, the decrease in the regression coefficient of the sport participation variable suggests that there may be a mediating effect of subjective class identity and physical and mental health in the way that sports participation affects individual well-being. The mediating effect will be tested further in a later section.

Propensity score matching

Data and variable limitations will make the basic analysis process highly susceptible to the problem of selective bias. To correct for selectivity bias, the propensity score matching method we used estimated the net effect of sport participation on individual subjective well-being. To ensure the robustness of the results, we used three methods: nearest-neighbor matching, radius matching, and kernel matching. Table 3 shows the results of the sample balance test. The data show a well-balanced sample after matching.

After matching, we measured the mean treatment effect of subjective well-being for individuals who participated in physical activity. The results are shown in Table 4 . The results of radius matching showed that the subjective well-being of the physical activity group was 1.033 higher than that of the non-physical activity group at a 5% confidence level. In addition, the ATT results for both Kernel density matching and nearest-neighbor matching showed that physical activity participation was significant on individual subjective well-being at the 5% confidence level after eliminating observable systematic differences between samples. This result ensures the robustness of the baseline regression results that participation in physical activity significantly increases an individual’s subjective well-being, which further validates Hypothesis 1.

Quantile regression

In this section, we have used quantile regression to further analyze the pattern of physical activity participation on individuals’ subjective well-being. Table 5 demonstrates the quantile effects of sport participation on individual subjective well-being. The estimates show that at the lower quartile (0.1), participation in sports does not have a significant effect on subjective well-being, but at the middle and low quartiles (0.25), sports participation has a positive effect on subjective well-being at a statistical level of 10%. And, as the quantile increases, the regression coefficient for sports participation shows an upward trend. This result suggests that sports participation has less of an impact on individuals with low and medium subjective well-being and more of an impact on individuals with high subjective well-being. In addition, physical and mental health passed the significance test at all quantile points, indicating that good physical and mental health can contribute to higher perceptions of well-being for individuals in different well-being states. In contrast to the trend in the regression coefficients for sports participation, the regression coefficients for the subjective class identity showed a decreasing trend as the quartile increased.

Heterogeneity analysis

We have analyzed the patterns of the effects of physical activity participation on individual subjective well-being above, and in this section, we will further explore group differences in the effects of physical activity participation on subjective well-being. Wang et al. ( 2022 ) point out that individuals under the age of 35 are more aware of their physical health, making exercise a greater impact on personal well-being. Individuals between the ages of 36 and 59 are more likely to recognize physical importance at work and to focus on physical activity. For those over-60s, physical health will directly affect their perception of subjective well-being. Therefore, we will further analyze the heterogeneity of the effect of sports participation on individuals’ subjective well-being by dividing the sample into groups under 35 years old, 36–59 years old, and over 60 years old according to their age. The results of the subgroup regressions are shown in Table 6 . The results show that there is no significant effect of sports participation on subjective well-being for the under 35 group. For the 36–59 year old group sports participation was only significant at the 10% level. However, the effect of sports participation on subjective well-being was significant at the 1% level for the older age group of 60 years and above, and the regression coefficient was significantly higher. The effect of subjective class identity on subjective well-being for different age groups is similar to the effect of sports participation on subjective well-being for different age groups. That is, there is no significant effect of subjective class identity on the subjective well-being of the group under 35 years old, but the effect of subjective class identity on the subjective well-being of the group between 36 and 59 years old is significant at the level of 10%, the effect on the subjective well-being of the group aged over 60 was significant at the level of 1%. The physical and mental health of different age groups has a significant impact.

Mediation effect analysis

In this section, we will further examine the mechanisms by which sport participation affects an individual’s subjective well-being. In the theoretical analysis section, we illustrate the internal logic of sport participation affecting well-being from two perspectives: subjective class identity and health. In the correlation analysis, we found that there was a significant correlation between sports participation, subjective well-being, subjective class identity and physical and mental health. In the stratified regression analysis, the coefficient of the effect of sports participation on subjective well-being was reduced after adding the variables of subjective class identity and physical and mental health. Based on this, this section will explore the mechanisms underlying the impact of sport participation on subjective well-being. We constructed a chain mediation test model with individual subjective well-being as the dependent variable, sports participation as the independent variable, and subjective class identity and physical and mental health as mediating variables. The results of the path coefficient estimation are shown in Fig. 2 , and the results of the chain-mediated effects analysis are shown in Table 7 . In order to clearly present the interrelationships between the variables, we report the standardized path coefficients in this section. We used the Bootstrap method to repeatedly sample 5000 times to analyze the main effect and chain-mediated effect. The results showed that the indirect effect of the pathway with subjective class identity as the mediating variable was 0.009 (95%CI = [0.003,0.016]), the indirect effect of the pathway with physical and mental health as the mediating variable was 0.065 (95%CI = [0.042,0.089]), the indirect effect of the pathway with subjective class identity and physical and mental health as the mediating variable was 0.004 (95% CI = [0.002,0.007]), with all indirect effects totaling 0.078 (95% CI = [0.054,0.103]). The chain mediating role of subjective class identity and physical and mental health in the positive effect of sport participation on individuals’ subjective well-being is established, which verifies hypothesis 2, hypothesis 3 and hypothesis 4.

Note: *** p  < 0.01. The numbers in the figure are the standardized regression coefficients for the path.

We examined the relationship between sports participation, subjective class identity, physical and mental health and subjective well-being using data from the 2017 China General Survey. Our study builds on previous research on physical activity and subjective well-being to further explore the mechanisms underlying the impact of sport participation on individual well-being. Our findings have several points that deserve further discussion, which will provide some valuable references for the next studies on residents’ well-being and life satisfaction.

Physical activity participation can significantly enhance individuals’ subjective well-being. This result remained significant after accounting for sample selection bias. This result further supports previous research findings on the significant positive effect of physical activity on individuals’ subjective well-being (Biddle & Asare, 2011 ; VanKim & Nelson, 2013 ). We further analyzed the patterns and group heterogeneity of the effects of sports participation on individual subjective well-being perceptions. The results showed that the effect of sports participation on individual subjective well-being was heterogeneous across populations. Specifically, the effect of sports participation on individual subjective well-being showed a significant quantile effect, and with increasing quantile values, this effect showed a significant linear upward trend. In addition, our results show that the effect of sports participation on individual subjective well-being differs significantly across age subgroups. Specifically, the effect of sports participation was not significant for the youth group aged 35 and younger, while the effect was more significant for the older age group aged 60 and older. This corresponds to the results of previous studies. Lera-Lopez et al. ( 2017 ) showed a significant relationship between physical activity during leisure time and personal well-being and life satisfaction among adults aged 50 to 70. Differences regarding the impact of sports participation on the well-being of individuals at different ages can be analyzed from the perspective of leisure time use. Different age groups face different life and work pressures, and in comparison, older people have more freedom to arrange their leisure time than young and middle-aged people. Cho and Kim ( 2020 ) point out that middle-aged groups are under pressure to balance family and work more than older groups and require more effort for acquiring personal free time, thus older people are more involved in regular physical activity than middle-aged people.

The analysis of the mechanism of the effect of sports participation on subjective well-being showed that sports participation enhances subjective well-being by improving individuals’ subjective class identity and physical and mental health, respectively, while subjective class identity and physical and mental health have a significant chain mediating effect. Our study confirms the significant positive effects of subjective class identity and physical and mental health on subjective well-being, and this finding can be supported by previous studies(Etxeberria et al., 2019 ; Tang & Tan, 2022 ). In addition, we focus on the relationship between physical activity, subjective class identity, physical and mental health and individual subjective well-being based on body and society theory, which has received less attention in existing studies. We will return to the theoretical framework of this paper to further explore the intrinsic causes. The sociological definition of exercise is not one-sidedly focused on physical exertion, but emphasizes the socially differentiated nature of the practice of exercise as a way of life(Lagaert & Roose, 2016 ). This points to the exploration and research about the social body. Individuals in the lifeworld maintain and express their class position and social identity through differentiated and compartmentalized social practices(Lawler, 2005 ; Mellor et al., 2010 ). Social networks play an important role in influencing individuals’ subjective assessment of their position in the social hierarchy and the construction of their social identity(Firat et al., 1994 ; Huang, 2023 ). Under this perspective, we argue that individuals’ physical activity behaviors and sports social networks during sports participation will influence the way individuals categorize themselves and form perceptions about their self-position. Social comparison in the process of acquiring a subjective class identity and the questions it raises about confidence and self-esteem will further point to concerns about individual mental health. Social comparison orientation has been shown to have a negative effect on mental health, and self-esteem has a significant negative mediating role in this (Lee, 2022 ). Thus, we connected the relationship between subjective class identity and physical and mental health, and further verified the positive effect of subjective class identity on physical and mental health. As a result, we conclude that sports participation affects individuals’ physical and mental health by influencing their subjective class identity. Combining the effects of subjective class identity and physical and mental health on subjective well-being, our study explored and validated the positive effects of sports participation on subjective well-being and the chain mediating effects of subjective class identity and physical and mental health.

Conclusions and limitations

Our findings confirm the positive effect of sports participation on subjective well-being and validate the mechanisms underlying the effect of sports participation on subjective well-being based on body and society theory. These findings can provide some practical suggestions for enhancing the subjective well-being of residents, especially the elderly. The impact of sports participation on subjective class identity, physical and mental health and subjective well-being requires the optimal allocation of sports resources between regions and urban and rural areas, especially to protect the needs of people at the bottom in their pursuit of a better life, thereby enhancing their opportunities for physical maintenance, and expression and reducing the relative deprivation they feel. The significant impact of sports participation on the subjective well-being of the elderly population calls for promoting age-friendly communities, improving the construction of sports facilities in the community, improving the sports environment for the elderly and enriching their leisure life.

There are still some research limitations present in our study. Due to the limitations of the study data, we used cross-sectional data, and the main content of the analysis was the effect of whether individuals participate in physical activity on residents’ subjective well-being and its underlying mechanisms. However, there are also differences in the duration and intensity of sports participation among individuals who participate in physical exercise, and further exploration is needed regarding the effect of the degree of participation of physical exercise participants on individual subjective well-being. In addition, we used cross-sectional data to verify the relationship between sports participation, subjective class identity, health, and subjective well-being in accordance with relevant theories, but future research would be more helpful to understand the relationship between sports participation and individual subjective well-being and to make logical causal judgments if we can break the data limitations and obtain tracking survey data for longitudinal studies.

Data availability

Raw data collected and analyzed in the current study are available in the Chinese General Social Survey: http://cgss.ruc.edu.cn/ . Data supporting the findings of this study are presented in the supplementary file.

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Liu, N., Zhong, Q. The impact of sports participation on individuals’ subjective well-being: the mediating role of class identity and health. Humanit Soc Sci Commun 10 , 544 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-023-02064-4

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Detailed analysis of collaborations (company-company collaborations and company-academia collaborations), licensing agreement and financing details for future advancement of Vaginitis market.

Key Topics Covered 1. Report Introduction 2. Vaginitis 3. Vaginitis Current Treatment Patterns 4. Vaginitis - Analytical Perspective 5. Therapeutic Assessment 6. Vaginitis Late Stage Products (Phase-III) 7. Vaginitis Mid Stage Products (Phase-II) 8. Early Stage Products (Phase-I) 9. Pre-clinical Products and Discovery Stage Products 10. Inactive Products 11. Dormant Products 12. Vaginitis Discontinued Products 13. Vaginitis Product Profiles 14. Vaginitis Key Companies 15. Vaginitis Key Products 16. Dormant and Discontinued Products 17. Vaginitis Unmet Needs 18. Vaginitis Future Perspectives 19. Vaginitis Analyst Review 20. Appendix 21. Report Methodology For more information about this clinical trials report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/1zstgq

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