Exercise, Self-Image & Social Ties in Teens

According to the article, Exercise Can Boost Teens’ Self-Image, Social Ties, increased exercise in adolescents and teens can improve self-image and also help expand their social networks. The new study that has uncovered this interesting finding can be found in Clinical Psychological Science.

Researchers in Europe ran a study on a sample of over 7,000 Dutch students between the ages of 11 and 16, utilizing various surveys to assess physical activity, mental health states, body weight perception and also participation in organized sports. Besides gathering data directly from the students the researchers also gathered data on the age, gender, their socioeconomic status, whether they lived at home and whether or not they lived in a suburban or urban area. This data could offer great insight into the availability of physical activity services offered to the children, etc. Researchers were looking to create a link between two previously used explanations for the links between exercise and mental health. One being that physical activity has positive effects on body weight, which in turn leads to positive feedback from family, friends, peers, leading to a better self-image and in turn improving a child’s mental state. The second being the social interaction theory, which stresses that social relationships formed between team members may contribute to the positive effects that exercise has on mental health.

After surveying the children and gathering all the data researchers found that the “findings confirm both the self-image hypothesis and the social interaction hypothesis.” Children who were not physically active and saw themselves as being “too fat” or “too skinny” were much more likely to experience depression, anxiety, aggression and even substance abuse. Those children that participated routinely in organized sports were at a much lower risk for these mental health problems. These findings show that while body weight perception has an influence on physical activity it also has an influence on whether or not children participate in sports which in turn may be linked to various mental health issues.
These findings are very important for researchers and will hopefully lead to future studies that will examine similar issues.

Article : http://psychcentral.com/news/2012/09/26/exercise-can-boost-teens-self-image-social-ties/45161.html

Written by : Klaudia Zdybel