Peer-reviewed article

Adolescent sports participation and school adjustment: the chain-mediation roles of peer relationships and depressive symptoms.

Liu C, Lai X, Gao Y, Yang Y, Zhao L · 13 Jul 2026

Abstract

Objective This study examined the relationship between adolescent sports participation and school adjustment and analyzed the serial mediating effects of peer relationships and depressive symptoms. Methods The study sample comprised 8,096 adolescent participants. Assessments were conducted using the Physical Activity Questionnaire for Children (PAQ-C), the School Social Behavior Scale (SSBS), the Quality of Life Scale for Children and Adolescents (QLSCA), and the Symptom Checklist-90 (SCL-90). The hypothesized mediation effects were tested using the SPSS 26.0 macro PROCESS 4.5 with bias-corrected bootstrapping (5,000 resamples) to assess the significance of the indirect effects. Results Group comparisons showed that boys scored higher than girls on sports participation, school adjustment and reported lower depressive symptoms scores (p < 0.001), while no significant gender difference emerged for peer relationships. No significant age differences were observed for sports participation, school adjustment, or peer relationships (all p > 0.05), but depressive symptoms increased significantly with age (p < 0.01), with the highest levels at age 19. Only children scored higher on sports participation and school adjustment and lower on depressive symptoms, but lower on peer relationships, than non-only children (p < 0.001). Students in remote areas showed lower school adjustment and higher depressive symptoms scores than those in several non-remote groups (p < 0.001). Sports participation was positively correlated with school adjustment (r = 0.260, p < 0.001) and peer relationships (r = 0.201, p < 0.001) and negatively correlated with depressive symptoms (r = -0.166, p < 0.001). Peer relationships were positively correlated with school adjustment (r = 0.344, p < 0.001) and negatively correlated with depressive symptoms (r = -0.362, p < 0.001). Depressive symptoms were negatively correlated with school adjustment (r = -0.226, p < 0.001). Peer relationships (effect = 1.76, 95% CI [1.50, 2.03]) and depressive symptoms (effect = 0.23, 95% CI [0.14, 0.33]) each mediated the association between sports participation and school adjustment. They also formed a small but statistically significant serial mediation effect pathway (effect = 0.20, 95% CI [0.14, 0.28]). Conclusion This study further clarifies the relationship between adolescent sports participation and school adjustment, and emphasizes the chain mediating role of peer relationships and depressive symptoms. These findings provide empirical evidence for the educational value of adolescent sports participation and offer practical implications for optimizing school physical education to enhance school adjustment and promote mental health.