Youth sport participation and underage drinking behavior: the mediating effect of self-esteem

Abstract

Underage drinking has been recognized as a public health issue in the United States. Even though participation in sport activities have been recommended as an important tool for youth development and reducing risky behavior, previous research has indicated that sport participation directly increased alcohol consumption among youth. Furthermore, youth with low self-esteem are more likely to engage in delinquent behaviors (including alcohol consumption). There is a lack of empirical research on how self-esteem mediates the relationship between sport participation and underage drinking behavior. Using a Structural Equation Modeling approach, the current study examined the theoretical relationships between sports participation, underage drinking behavior and the mediating effect of self-esteem among a sample of youth (specifically 8th and 10th grades). To have a larger sample size, this study used the data from the annual national surveys, “Monitoring the Future: A Continuing Study of American Youth”. The results indicated that sport participation significantly increases both drinking behavior and self-esteem. In contrast, a greater level of self-esteem significantly decreases drinking behavior. The findings suggest that although youth who are frequently involved in sport and physical activities have increased drinking behavior, a greater level of self-esteem offset this effect. Since this study provides insight into the under-studied potential mediating factor of self-esteem, people (e.g., parents, teachers, coaches, and administrators) who work closely with youth and adolescents will benefit from these findings and gain a better understanding of underage drinking behavior and the importance of self-esteem among youth. The current study contributes to the literature on positive youth development and public health.