Introduction
Globally, the WHO estimates that 14% of young people aged 10–19 experience mental health problems and mental disorders, which can lead to a health-related disability during adolescence and long-lasting consequences.1 Children and adolescents commonly report stress, pressures in life and inadequate sleep, which can adversely affect mental health.2 3 Mental health is multifaceted and affected by many factors like biology, resilience, sleep, environment, diet, stress and physical activity.4–10 Physical activity can stabilise mood, increase well-being and mental health by affecting brain circuits important for cognitive function (eg, attention, working memory capacities, cognitive control).11–14 Maintaining good mental health also involves, for example, mental health literacy, social skills, emotional regulation, functional stress management and a lifestyle with healthy behaviours.15 16
Emerging evidence shows that participation in organised sports can protect adolescents’ mental health and help develop positive health behaviours.16 17 Panza et al18 observed a weak yet significant negative association between sports involvement and self-reported anxiety and depression among athletes aged 10–20. Likewise, Rodriguez-Ayllon et al19 found a weak but significant relationship between physical activity and positive mental health among adolescents but no significant relationship for children.
Participation in team sports appears to be more beneficial to mental health than individual sports.14 17 20 For example, Gorham et al14 studied a nationwide sample of children aged 9–11 and found that participation in team sports, but not individual sports, was protective against depression. Similarly, a study on a representative American sample of children and adolescents aged 9–13 demonstrated that individual sports participation was linked to more mental health problems. In contrast, team sport participation was associated with fewer mental health concerns.21 Furthermore, large-scale cohort studies focusing on high school and senior high school students indicate team sport participation to be more related to positive mental health than individual sports during adolescence and early adulthood.22 23
Social support perceived within a team can potentially help athletes protect their mental health.14 Some individual sports, such as gymnastics, have an early peak performance age which may expose athletes to high training loads, psychosocial demands and competitive stress at a younger age than many team sports. While these circumstances can foster resilience, they can also threaten mental health and decrease well-being.24 Substantial research suggests coach autonomy support to be an essential environmental precursor for athletes’ motivation, sports involvement and well-being regardless of sports type and culture.25
Studies that investigated lifestyle and sports-related factors across age groups of athletes and individual and team sports are still sparse in the literature. Moreover, attention in research is needed to explore potential mediating psychosocial variables in the relationship between organised sports and athletes’ mental health.16 The first objective of this study was, therefore, to describe lifestyle factors (sleeping problems/fatigue, pressure/activation), one sports environmental factor (perceived coach autonomy support) and indicators of mental health (well-being and poor general mental health) across age categories of athletes (children ≤12 years, youths 13–15 years, junior to senior ≥16 years) and sports (basketball and gymnastics). Second, we aimed to explore the pathway through which lifestyle factors relate to mental health indicators, hypothesising that the association would be mediated by perceived coach autonomy support.