The Relationship Between Social Integration, Participation in Sports, and Academic Achievement

The relationship between participation in sports and academic achievement is examined by exploring both the factors that predict participation in different sports and the influence that participation in specific sports has on academic achievement. While previous studies analyzed the effects of participation in sports on achievement, little research has explored whether students who have fewer academic resources are more likely to play sports. Using data from the National Educational Longitudinal Survey, this study considers whether cultural capital, household educational resources, family structure, and race are related to participation in football, basketball, or other sports and whether the effects of participation on several measures of academic achievement differ by race and sport. The findings suggest that cultural disadvantage contributes to an increased interest in and perhaps dependence on basketball and football as a means of social capital.

Adolescents’ participation in club-organized sports has decreased over time. Adolescents are known to drop out of club-organized sports as they age and may instead participate in self-organized sports. Boys are reported to participate more in club-organized sports than girls.PurposeTo study the trends of patterns of participation in club-organized and self-organized sports from 2013-2019 in Swedish adolescents aged 12-18 years.MethodsThis study is part of a repeated cross-sectional study on sports and screen-time, including 3949 Swedish adolescents. Participation in club-organized and self-organized sports, watching TV & movies, and playing video games, was analyzed annually for the years 2013-2019, in 12–14-year-olds and 15-18-year-olds separately, by descriptive statistics, cluster analysis and, clusters’ centroids’ closeness across years. Clusters’ associations with gender were tested with regression analysis.ResultsIn younger adolescents, 68-78% participate in club-organized and 61-91% in self-organized sports. Among older adolescents, 52-64% participate in club-organized sports, and 70-88% in self-organized. In all years and both age groups, most adolescents are in patterns characterized by participating in sports. Patterns of inactivity and participation in sport are similar in 2013-2019. Younger adolescents show patterns of not participating in club-organized sports and older not in self-organized sports. The proportion of older adolescents in inactivity decreased over time. Among younger adolescents, no gender was frequently associated with any specific pattern, while girls were frequently associated with patterns of inactivity in the older age group.ConclusionThe study provides a new perspective on trends in patterns of participation in club-organized and self-organized sports from 2013 to 2019 in Swedish adolescents. Most adolescents were in patterns of participation in sports, yet the inactivity pattern was reoccurring. Younger adolescents showed patterns of not participating in club-organized sports and older not in self-organized sports. There were no gender differences in patterns among younger adolescents, while older girls are associated with patterns of inactivity. A policy that directly targets inactive adolescents, especially focusing on older girls, may be beneficial to increase participation in sports for all adolescents.FundingSwedish Research Council (2018-05824_VR).Title 3Growing grassroot participation opportunities in Kids’ Athletics through quality education and partnershipsPurposeKids’ Athletics (KA), initiated in 2002, has engaged over 13 million children globally. It addresses the concerning statistic that 81% of youth and young people not meeting WHO's daily physical activity recommendations, to provide positive grassroots athletics experiences for mental and physical well-being.Project or Policy DescriptionRecognising the evolving needs of children and communities, the KA programme underwent a comprehensive review in 2021. The redesigned programme emphasises adaptability, inclusivity, enabling clubs, schools, sport organisations to foster participation through a modernised approach to athletics. The programme strategically utilises public spaces, eliminating the dependence on traditional athletics infrastructure and equipment, and employs a digital-first strategy for enhanced accessibility.The KA approach is participant centred, providing positive experiences in physical activity to all children, no matter their individual abilities or circumstances. A positive experience is one that meets the individual needs of participants and is fun, safe, and teaches basic skills. Ensuring children and young people build the skills and confidence to by physically active for life.Creating a capable and educated workforce was the priority in the initial implementation of the programme. In 2022/2023 World Athletics (WA) developed and conducted 'Train the Trainer' workshops across the globe, establishing an initial network of 200 KA National Leads in 157 countries, reaching over 500,000 children in 2023. Making training available online via the WA eLearning platform in late 2023 allowed WA to increase the reach of consistent information and training.Kids’ Athletics is currently assessed based on programme reach, global participation, and accessibility for children. The next phase involves evaluating programme quality and impact across various contexts. As well as establishing local partnerships and collaboration with delivery partners and governments to scale up the delivery of the programme.ConclusionKids’ Athletics exemplifies grassroots sports delivery, offering quality physical activity opportunities through a physical literacy approach in clubs, schools, and communities.

Social integration is the process of maintaining the dependence and harmony in the mutual relations of different groups that make up the society in a certain order. One of the factors that ensure social integration is sport. On the other hand, it is an interesting issue whether esports, which has been frequently discussed in recent years, also affects social integration. Aim: From this point of view, the aim of this study was to examine the levels of social integration in sport between athletes and esports players. Method: The sample of the study consisted of 1000 participants, 500 sportsmen and 500 esports players. Data were collected face-to-face and through Google Forms. Demographic information questionnaire and Social Integration Scale in Sport were used as data collection tools. The data were analyzed with SPSS 25 package program. Frequency, percentage and descriptive statistics were used in the analyses. Since the data did not show normal distribution, Mann Whitney U test and Kruskal Wallis H test were used to compare the variables. The confidence interval in the analyses was determined as 95% (p<0.05). Results: As a result of this research, a statistically significant difference was found between the levels of social integration in sport of athletes and esports players. On the other hand, statistically significant differences were found in the sub-dimensions of personal development, physical benefit, psychological change, moral development and emotional development. Conclusion: In the sub-dimensions of socialization and integration, no statistically significant difference was found between athletes and esports players. It was observed that the mean scores of the athletes were higher than the esports players in the total score and all sub-dimensions of the scale. It is thought that this result may be due to the physical presence of both athletes and sports fields.

Sports participation reported in a positive relationship with health and academic achievement. Sports participation may improve cognitive health leading to improved academic achievement. Some other factors may also be involved in this regard including parental support and self-esteem. In this study, we examined the relationship between sports participation, parental support, self-esteem and academic achievement due to concern about reduced education level of students and serious lack of research regarding this issue in Pakistan. We hypothesized that sports participation would influence students’ academic achievement. We further conceptualized a mediation model in which sports participation enhanced academic achievement through enhancing parental support and self-esteem. 248 students from three universities of Pakistan (male = 188; mean age = 17.5, SD = 1.15; female = 60; mean age =17.3, SD = 1.18) participated in the study, in which questionnaires were used to measure parental support, sports participation, and self-esteem. Two scales were used to measure parental support (school based parental support and sports participation based parental support). Sports participation level was measured using an adapted version of The Physical Activity Index (PAI) Scale consisting of 3 items. Rosenberg self-esteem scale assessed self-esteem. Data analysis was performed using the structural equation modelling.We found no direct relationship between sports participation and academic achievement. We found parental support and self-esteem as mediators in the relationship between sports participation and academic achievement. The mediational models suggested focus on vital role of parental support and self-esteem to have better academic performance.

The Value of Peer Learning for First-year Postgraduate University Students’ Social and Academic Integration

Participation in sports clubs is often ascribed with the ability to promote social integration of people with disabilities, since it can provide a platform for creating social networks and friendships. However, integration is not reached automatically, and it is strongly reliant on specific factors and conditions. Therefore, this study compares the degree of social integration of members with and without disabilities and analyses individual and structural factors relevant for social integration of members with disabilities. Social integration is conceptualised as a multidimensional concept and focuses on socio-cultural and socio-affective (interaction, identification) dimensions. Statistical regression analyses were conducted using data from 13,082 members (N = 1482 of that reported at least one disability) in 642 sports clubs in ten European countries. The results show that members with disabilities are integrated to the same extent as members without disabilities, and the degree of social integration seems to be more reliant on individual factors than on structural factors of sports clubs. Affiliation and participation in a club (volunteering, participation in competitive sport, long-term membership, frequency of sports participation, team/group size) are relevant for social integration. Furthermore, the setting matters, as members with disabilities practising in both settings, only with people with disabilities as well as together with members without disabilities, are slightly better integrated regarding the ‘interaction’-dimension than those practising in a separate setting only.

This article analyses the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on university students’ social and academic integration, based on Tinto’s integration theory. A total of 640 university students in Austria completed an online survey pertaining to academic and social integration during the home-learning period. Results indicate that social integration and academic integration decreased significantly during the lockdown period in the beginning of 2020. The level of perceived support during home learning was positively associated with the levels of social and academic integration. Furthermore, while student age was a predictor for higher academic integration, it was not a predictor for social integration among peer students. Academic and social integration during COVID-19 was significantly linked with student satisfaction in various studies. This study has important implications for future home-learning periods, suggesting how institutions could prepare for longer disruptions of attendance and how they could leverage student integration.

Personality traits influence behavior and motivation related to social integration. For this reason, this research is important in terms of the fact that the sport which is thought to be a social environment and provides the socialization of individuals will contribute to the development of personality traits and as a tool to help psychologists. The aim of this study is to investigate the relationships and interactions between the level of social integration in sports and personality types. In this study, relational survey model, one of the quantitative research methods, was used. The research group of this study consists of 152 female and 148 male high school and university students who study in sports sciences in Niğde province, selected by convenience (accidental) sampling method and criteria sampling method from random sampling methods. Survey method was used as data collection tool. The first part of the three-part questionnaire contains the "social integration scale in sports" developed by Yilmaz et al. (2007), the second part contains the personality types scale adapted to Turkish by Sudak and Zehir (2013) developed by Goldberg (1990), and the third part contains the personal data form. In addition to descriptive statistics in the analysis of the data; normality tests, Pearson correlation analysis, multiple linear regression analysis were used. In addition, the Z score was calculated and the differences between the groups were examined in order to compare the r values that appeared in the binary correlation analysis by dividing them into groups. As a result of the analysis, significant positive correlations were found between the sub-dimensions of the two measurement instruments at low, medium and high levels in general. As a result, sports are a very important tool for the development of personality along with the social integration of individuals.

We examine the impact of participation in sport at secondary school on post-school pathways using a survey of Irish school-leavers, distinguishing between those who dropped out of sport during their secondary school years and those who continued playing in their final school years. We find that members of this latter group are, on completion of secondary schooling, significantly and substantially more likely to continue their education rather than to join the labour market. This effect survives controlling for individual background traits, school characteristics, attachment to the school and academic achievement. Our results are also robust to the use of propensity score matching to control for selection into participation in sport based on observable characteristics. We relate our findings to previous work on the potential labour market benefits of participation in sport and to the emerging literature on the role of consumption value in educational choice.

The increasing mobility of students has supported the internationalization of higher education. Studying abroad brings to the forefront language and cultural issues. In this paper, through interviews and survey data I investigate the academic and social integration of Chinese students in Italian universities. While these students look forward to academic excellence, social integration is also significant in how well students perform academically and how they feel about their studies. I focus on factors that affect students' abilities and behaviors in blending academically and socially in Italy and attempt to bring out the idea that successful academic and social integration translates into better academic achievements. The results should help Chinese overseas students ascertain whether academic and social integration are effective for their studying abroad, what obstacles they may face and how they may be overcome. This research on social blending finds that there is a significant correlation between academic and social factors. This paper also indicates that a lack of Italian language skills, communication skills, and preparation for studying abroad directly influences social integration, academic achievements, and the expansion of social networks.

Background and Aim: Majoring in physical education enhances students' motor skills, physical health, and overall well-being while encouraging self-discipline and teamwork. It also promotes a favorable attitude about living an active lifestyle and has long-term health benefits. The study aims to identify key success factors influencing the achievements of university students majoring in physical education, focusing on improving program outcomes, which would enhance readability and professionalism. Materials and Methods: This research analyzed various factors affecting students' academic performance through a Delphi evaluation by 17 experts and a questionnaire survey of 154 major physical education university students. In this study, the research focused on the senior students at the School of Physical Education at Guangdong Comprehensive University. The correct total population of senior students in the School of Physical Education is 258. Therefore, the sample size was determined using the Krejci and Morgan Table based on this corrected population size. The final sample consisted of 154 senior students, and questionnaires were distributed to these 154 high-grade students in the physical education program. Results: The study identified key factors influencing university students' achievements in physical education, categorized into personal, service and environmental, teaching, social and cultural, teacher factors, and academic achievement. Personal factors include attendance, participation, and attitude, which enhance engagement and learning outcomes. Service and environmental factors cover facilities, resources, and support services that improve the overall learning experience. Teaching factors focus on instructional design, assessment, and feedback to align with students' learning needs. Social and cultural factors highlight peer support, cultural influences, and organized sports in shaping students' sports participation. Teacher factors emphasize expertise, teaching methods, and interaction, which foster students' skill development and interest. Academic achievement is driven by performance, motivation, goals, and access to necessary resources for success. Conclusion: The study identified six key success factors influencing university students' achievements in physical education, comprising 33 indices. These factors include personal (attendance, engagement, attitude, preparation), service and environment (facilities, resources, support services), teaching (instructional design, delivery, assessment, support), social and cultural (social and cultural influences, organized sports), teacher (expertise, approach, support, interaction, influence), and academic achievement (performance, motivation, goals, resources). This research provides insights into improving program effectiveness by addressing these multidimensional factors.

Participation in sport is associated with a range of physical, psychological, and social benefits. However, children in out-of-home care face complex barriers to sport participation, with lower participation rates than children in other household arrangements. We aimed to establish carers' recommendations for improving children in care's participation and experiences in sport. Overall, 42 foster and kinship carers in Western Australia participated in the study. Data were collected via online surveys and interviews. We conducted a sequential explanatory mixed-methods study, utilising both quantitative and qualitative methods. Analyses revealed three key recommendations-with accompanying implementation strategies-for policymakers, researchers, peak sporting bodies, and sporting organisations: (1) inclusive practices should be embedded in existing sport programs; (2) education for sport program providers should be developed; and (3) support for carers to facilitate sport participation for children in care should be provided. This work provides guidance for increasing participation in sport for children in care, and maximising opportunities for physical, psychological, and social development.

This study investigates the sports preferences and participation levels among young residents of Soroksár, a district on the outskirts of Budapest, Hungary. Utilizing a mixed-method approach, data was collected through a questionnaire survey conducted in autumn 2023. Statistical analysis was performed to assess the significance of factors influencing sports participation. The results indicate that local infrastructure and accessibility significantly impact sports engagement among youth, with preferences leaning towards sports readily available in the community. Notably, early initiation of sports participation positively correlated with academic achievement, emphasizing the importance of holistic development through sports. The findings underscore the need for comprehensive infrastructural development to support mass sports participation and promote healthy lifestyles. Local policymakers are urged to prioritize investments in sports facilities and opportunities, recognizing the multifaceted benefits of sustained sports engagement beyond elite-level support. This study provides insights into sports participation in Soroksár and calls for further research to inform evidence-based interventions promoting physical activity and intellectual development among youth.

Social emotional skills and moral development are fundamental skills that significantly influence a child’s process of becoming a healthy adult. The development of these skills from an early age contributes to personality growth and the formation of a healthy and happy individual. In addition to academic achievements, children’s social-emotional development, moral understanding, and acquisition of values are also important in their individualisation process. Creative drama, as a widely used method in multidimensional learning, can be an effective tool to support the development of these skills. Drama activities that provide experiential learning contribute to social skills, emotion regulation, moral development, and may enhance children’s awareness while engaging them in enjoyable learning experiences. In this study, the research question was: “Do the creative drama trainings received by children have an effect on their social-emotional and moral development?” A one-group pretest-posttest experimental design was used. Within the scope of the research, 20 hours of drama practice were carried out with 15 volunteer children aged 8-11 years. Pre-test and post-test data were collected and analyzed using SPSS 23. The analyses examined changes in social emotional and moral development following the intervention. Results indicate that creative drama education was associated with increases in children’s emotional awareness, empathy skills, and moral reasoning. Creative drama participation was linked to statistically significant improvements in social-emotional and moral development scores. The programme appeared to improve students’ performance, and participants reported increased awareness as a result of the activities.

We examined the relation- ship between sport participation and academic achievement in a sample of adolescents, while accounting for socioeconomic status (SES) and sex. We analyzed data from a cohort of 271 Mid-Atlantic high school students who participated in a longitudinal study of risk and protective factors for substance use, teen parenting, and school drop out. Sport participation at year one predicted academic achievement in English (p < .05) and mathematics (p < .05) at year 2, while controlling for academic achievement at year one. In both instances over other independent variables and covariates in the models, sport participation explains almost 7% of additional variance in the outcomes variables. We also found a positive relationship for participants who reported parents with some college experience as opposed to parents with no college experience, between sport participation and grades in English (p < .05) but not for mathematics. Sport participation is positively related to academic achievement but the relationship diverges when students are compared across sex and by parental education. These findings suggest that the relation ship between sport participation and academic achievement may be influenced by SES and is related to sex.