Peer-reviewed article
Can participation in sports enhance adolescents' subjective wellbeing? The chain mediation role of social support and basic psychological needs.
Liu L, Li D, Wang H, Jin H ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study examined how sports participation affects the mental wellbeing of adolescents in China. The research involved 1,000 teenagers and found that sports participation improves wellbeing by creating supportive social environments that help meet basic psychological needs like autonomy and competence. The effect was strongest at moderate levels of physical activity, suggesting that both too little and too much exercise reduce benefits.
Key points
- Sports participation significantly predicted both social support and basic psychological needs satisfaction
- Social support and basic psychological needs acted as partial mediators between sports participation and subjective wellbeing
- A significant chain mediation pathway was observed: sports participation → social support → basic psychological needs → subjective wellbeing
- Moderate levels of physical activity showed the strongest association with subjective wellbeing
- Insufficient or excessive exercise reduced the positive impact of sports participation on wellbeing
Limitations
The study used cross-sectional survey data from six Chinese provinces, so it cannot establish causal relationships or determine whether the findings apply to adolescents in other regions or cultural contexts. The mechanisms by which sports participation creates social support are not explored in detail.
Abstract
Background Adolescent mental health has become a major global concern. Subjective wellbeing, as a core indicator of mental health, requires exploration of its intervention pathways. Participation in sports, encompassing physical regulation, emotional release, and social interaction, is considered an important avenue to promote subjective wellbeing; however, its specific mechanisms remain unclear. Objective This study aims to explore the relationships among sports participation, social support, basic psychological needs, and subjective wellbeing, providing a theoretical basis for enhancing adolescents' subjective wellbeing. Methods A survey was conducted among 1,000 adolescents from Shandong, Henan, Jilin, Guangdong, Shaanxi, and Liaoning using scales measuring sports participation, social support, basic psychological needs, and subjective wellbeing. Results Sports participation significantly and positively predicted both social support and basic psychological needs. Social support and basic psychological needs served as partial mediators in the relationship between sports participation and adolescents' subjective wellbeing, with a significant chain mediation effect observed. Conclusion The chain mediation pathway of social support and basic psychological needs indicates that sports participation enhances adolescents' subjective wellbeing by creating a supportive social environment, which satisfies basic psychological needs. Furthermore, moderate levels of physical activity were associated with the subjective wellbeing, suggesting that only appropriately dosed exercise effectively promotes individual wellbeing, while insufficient or excessive exercise may diminish the impact of sports participation on subjective wellbeing.
Findings the Hub has extracted
Each claim below is labelled by its type of design and links back to this report.
- Intervention
- Participation in sports, with particular attention to moderate dosage
- Population
- 1,000 adolescents from six provinces in China (Shandong, Henan, Jilin, Guangdong, Shaanxi, Liaoning)
Key finding
Sports participation significantly and positively predicted social support
L et al. · Europe PMC · 4 Aug 2026