Social capital as a mediator in the link between women’s participation in team sports and health-related outcomes

Yuval Paldi, Daniel S. Moran, Orna Baron-Epel, Shiran Bord, Elisheva Benartzi, Riki Tesler

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

The role of social capital in the association between team sports and health-related outcomes has not been well established in the literature. The purpose of this study was to explore whether social capital components (social support, trust, and social involvement) mediate the association between team sports and health-related outcomes (self-reported health, psychosomatic symptoms, and depressive symptoms). In a cross-sectional research design, we obtained data from 759 participants in the Mamanet Cachibol League, a community team sports model for women in Israel, as well as a comparison group of 308 women who did not participate in any team sports. Team captains were sent a link with an online questionnaire, which were then delivered to team members via text message. Using three parallel mediation models, we found that social support mediated the association between team sports and self-reported health, psychosomatic symptoms, and depressive symptoms. Trust mediated the association between team sports and both psychosomatic symptoms and depressive symptoms. Social involvement was not found to be a mediator in the association between team sports and any of the health-related outcomes. Our findings reveal the important role of social capital, specifically social support and trust, in promoting the health of women who participate in team sports.

Original languageEnglish
Article number9331
JournalInternational Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Volume18
Issue number17
DOIs
StatePublished - 3 Sep 2021

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

Keywords

  • Depressive symptoms
  • Parallel mediation model
  • Psychosomatic symptoms
  • Self-reported health
  • Social capital
  • Team sports
  • Women

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Pollution
  • Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
  • Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis

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