Sport maakt wie ik ben. De betekenis van sport voor de persoonsontwikkeling van adolescenten tussen de 12 en 18 jaar

Abstract

The focus of this study is the contribution of sports participation on the personality development of adolescents. The sample consisted of 272 students (115 girls, 157 boys), 13 to 19 years of age (M = 14.90) of three secondary schools of different educational levels. Sports participation turned out to be high (83%). Sporting adolescents (N = 226) did not differ from non-sporting adolescents (N = 46) in age, sex, ethnicity and level of education. Structure of sports activities did not moderate the relationship between sports participation and moral self-relevance, or between sports participation and prosocial or antisocial behavior. The degree of competitiveness of the sports activity was related with antisocial behavior and alcohol and drug use. Sporting and non-sporting adolescents did not differ in the mean score on moral self-relevance and self-esteem, but did differ in the predictors of moral self-relevance and self-esteem. Sport does contribute to the personality development of adolescents.