Sport Participation and Academic Performance in Young Elite Athletes

Tania Pinto-Escalona, Pedro L. Valenzuela, Irene Esteban-Cornejo and Óscar Martínez- de-Quel ()
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Tania Pinto-Escalona: Didactics of Languages, Arts and Physical Education Department, Faculty of Education, Complutense University of Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain
Pedro L. Valenzuela: Physical Activity and Health Research Group (PaHerg), Research Institute of Hospital 12 de Octubre (IMAS12), 28041 Madrid, Spain
Irene Esteban-Cornejo: PROFITH Research Group, Sport and Health University Research Institute (iMUDS), Department of Physical Education and Sports, Faculty of Sport Sciences, University of Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain
Óscar Martínez- de-Quel: Didactics of Languages, Arts and Physical Education Department, Faculty of Education, Complutense University of Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 23, 1-8

Abstract: Strong evidence supports physical activity and fitness levels being positively associated with cognitive performance and overall academic performance in youth. This also applies to sports participation. However, whether participation in sports at the elite level is associated with greater academic performance remains unknown. Thus, the present study aimed to compare the academic performance of young elite athletes to that of control students, as well as to analyze whether the type of sport mediates these results. Between 2010 and 2019, all students from the last Baccalaureate course of the Spanish Elite Sport High School—which also includes non-elite athletes and recreational athlete students, who were categorized as controls—participated in this study. Academic performance was assessed through both the grade point average of the two last Baccalaureate courses and through the average grades from the University Entrance Examinations. Athletes were categorized attending to different sport classifications. A total of 1126 adolescents (570 girls, 18.2 ± 0.6 years) participated in the study, of which 483 and 643 were categorized as elite athletes and control students, respectively. Elite athletes attained a lower overall academic performance than controls ( p < 0.001), which was confirmed for both sexes ( p < 0.001). These differences were separately confirmed for most academic subjects ( p < 0.05), as well as when attending to different sport classifications (all p > 0.05). Young elite athletes attained a lower academic performance than their non-elite peers, regardless of their type of sport. These findings highlight the importance of programs aimed at facilitating dual careers among young elite athletes.

Keywords: adolescence; youth; sport practice; high-performance athletes; cognitive function; cognitive performance; school marks; school grades; academic achievement (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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