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. 2020 Jul;88(1):125-130.
doi: 10.1038/s41390-019-0417-5. Epub 2019 May 13.

Consistent participation in organized physical activity predicts emotional adjustment in children

Frédéric N Brière  1   2   3   4 , Arianne Imbeault  5   6 , Gary S Goldfield  7   8 , Linda S Pagani  5   6   9
Affiliations

Consistent participation in organized physical activity predicts emotional adjustment in children

Frédéric N Brière et al. Pediatr Res. 2020 Jul.

Abstract

Background: The objectives of this study were to derive trajectories of childhood participation in organized physical activity (PA) and to examine how these trajectories are associated with pre-existing and subsequent emotional adjustment.

Methods: Trajectories of mother-reported participation in organized PA were derived from age 6 to 10 for 1492 children from the Québec Longitudinal Study of Child Development birth cohort. Parents and teachers reported on internalizing behavior (emotional distress, anxiety, shyness, social withdrawal) at ages 4 and 12, respectively.

Results: Longitudinal latent class analysis identified two typical trajectories of participation in organized PA. The Consistent Participation trajectory (61%) included children with elevated probability of participation at all ages. The Low-Inconsistent Participation trajectory (39%) included children who did not participate or participated only once or twice, generally in late childhood. Pre-existing internalizing behavior at age 4 did not predict trajectory membership. However, children in the Low-Inconsistent Participation trajectory showed higher subsequent emotional distress (B = 0.87, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.46-1.28), anxiety (B = 0.61, 95% CI = 0.18-1.04), shyness (B = 0.92, 95% CI = 0.39-1.44), and social withdrawal (B = 0.86, 95% CI = 0.37-1.34) at age 12 than those in the Consistent Participation trajectory.

Conclusions: Our findings suggest that early and sustained involvement in organized PA is beneficial for children's emotional development.

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