Difficult teens can benefit from sport

Physical activity is good for young people with volatile temperaments or living in dysfunctional families - but only under certain conditions, UdeM researchers find. A new study has found that high levels of physical activity in early adolescence can reduce depressive symptoms in young people who have difficult temperaments, come from low-income families or are exposed to family dysfunction. However, these positive effects in teens transitioning from elementary to high school appear only under certain conditions and vary with factors such as the intensity and context of the activity, according to the study. Done by researchers at Université de Montréal, the study was published in January in the Journal of Early Adolescence. Social context is important. In adolescents with difficult temperaments (i.e., who find it harder to deal with new situations and are more likely to exhibit maladaptive emotional and behavioural responses), low levels of physical activity are associated with increased symptoms of anxiety, the researchers found. In teens from dysfunctional families (for example, those who have trouble communicating or solving problems), high levels of physical activity are associated with increased aggressivity, according to the study.