Impact of Sports Practice on the Emotional Well-Being of School-Aged Children in Brazil and Chile

The practice of sports and its influence on the emotional well-being of school-aged children is a topic of growing interest in contemporary research. As the lifestyles of children continue to evolve with technological advancements and academic demands, understanding how physical activity impacts their emotional well-being becomes a crucial matter. This study focuses on examining this impact in two South American countries, Brazil, and Chile, where participation in physical sports activities is a fundamental part of culture and daily life. Objective: The main objective of this study is to analyze how sports participation influences the emotional well-being of school-aged children in Brazil and Chile. Methods: Secondary data from the Third Wave of Children's Worlds: International Survey of Children's Well-being (ISCWeB), collected between 2016 and 2019 and published in 2020, were used in this study. From a cross-national perspective, this study collected data to explore children's self-perceptions of psychological well-being and their assessment of their lives in different developmental settings (such as peers, family, and school). In this study, we analyzed data from a group of 1,789 children aged 10, 11, and 12 years old (with 51.9% being girls) residing in Brazil and Chile. The ISCWeB survey collected subjective data using a self-assessment instrument called CW-PSWBS (Children’s Worlds Psychological Subjective Well-Being Scale). This instrument consisted of a set of 6 items that addressed affective subjective well-being, describing various emotional states, namely: Happy, Sad, Calm, Stressed, Full of Energy, and Bored. We conducted statistical analyses to assess emotional well-being and the frequency of physical activity. We calculated descriptive statistics such as mean and standard deviation for emotional well-being. We examined the frequency distribution of weekly physical activities. We used jamovi software (version 2.3) along with the chi-square test to compare proportions and employed one-way analysis of variance (Anova one way) to compare means. These analyses provided a detailed insight into emotional well-being and physical activity in the study. Results: The results show that sports practice is positively associated with emotions such as happiness and energy, and negatively associated with stress and sadness in school-aged children from Brazil and Chile. Additionally, significant differences in sports participation frequency were observed between boys and girls. Conclusion: In summary, this study found that sports practice is positively associated with emotional well-being in school-aged children from Brazil and Chile, enhancing happiness and energy, while reducing stress and sadness.