Can sports participation be a protective factor against suicide-related outcomes in adolescents: a systematic review

Front Psychol. 2024 Jun 4:15:1341795. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1341795. eCollection 2024.

Abstract

Background: Suicide-related outcomes among adolescents have become a serious public health problem worldwide. Emerging evidence suggests that sports participation may interact with suicide-related outcomes. The objective of this systematic review is to systematically review and summarize the association between sports participation and suicide-related outcomes among adolescents.

Design: A systematic review according to PRISMA Statement (International Platform of Registered Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Protocols registration: INPLASY202330072) https://inplasy.com/inplasy-2023-3-0072/.

Methods: The literature search was conducted in three electronic databases: Web of Science, PubMed, and EBSCOhost.

Results: A total of 16 studies (12 cross-sectional studies, 4 prospective studies) met the inclusion criteria were evaluated. Strong consistent evidence was found for the negative association between suicidal ideation, suicide attempts, and sports participation among adolescents. There was insufficient evidence to support consistency in the association between sports participation and suicide plans, and no evidence regarding gender differences between sports participation and these suicide-related outcomes. Furthermore, there was heterogeneity in the measures of sports participation and suicide-related outcomes across the included studies.

Conclusion: Evidence suggests that more sports participations are associated with lower suicidal ideation and suicide attempts in adolescents. However, the directionality of the observed associations should be examined based on more high-quality longitudinal studies in the future.

Keywords: adolescent; protective factor; sports participation; suicide-related outcome; systematic review.

Publication types

  • Systematic Review

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare that no financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.