Participation in Sports Activities Increases Life Satisfaction among Adolescents, with Loneliness as a Mediator

Abstract

Participating in sport activities gives adolescents the opportunity to socialize and interact with other individuals. With more interaction, there could be feelings of less loneliness and higher life satisfaction. This research aimed to examine the mediating effect of loneliness between participating in sports activities and life satisfaction among adolescents. The present study based its findings on data collected in three waves from the YOUth Got Talent project. There was a total of 219 participants in this study, 55.7 % females and 41.3% males, with a mean age of 17.8. Single item of whether the participants were involved in a sports club was used to assess the participation in sports activities variable. The UCLA Loneliness Scale was used to assess for loneliness, and adaptation of Cantril Ladder’s Life Satisfaction Scale was used to assess life satisfaction of the participants. Results showed that participation in sports activities did not significantly predict life satisfaction among adolescents, and participation in sports activities did not significantly predict loneliness. Loneliness significantly predicted life satisfaction. However, there was no mediation effect found for loneliness between participation in sports activities and life satisfaction.