Longitudinal Relationships Between Physical Fitness With Physical Self-Concept and Self-Esteem in Adolescents

Purpose: Physical fitness has shown to be positively related with young people's general mental health, mainly due to the changes in body composition derived from a regular sportive practice. Thus, the aim of this study was three-fold: 1) to analyze the relationship between physical fitness with the mental health status assessed as physical self-concept and self-esteem, 2) to study whether self-esteem offers longitudinal relationships with physical fitness three months after the first assessment, and 3) to know the most implicated variables of physical fitness in mental health variables. Method: A total of 1441 adolescents aged 12 to 19 years (mean=14.52; standard deviation=1.96 years), being the 49.5 % of them girls, from 4 high schools in Andalusia, Spain, participated in the study. The EUROFIT battery test was administered to the participants, as well as some questionaries to assess the physical self-concept and the self-steem. Physical tests and self-concept were assessed in an only temporal point, while self-esteem was analyzed longitudinally. Results: The results obtained indicated that physical self-concept was related to physical fitness, while self-esteem was especially related to the Course Navette test. Conclusions: These results suggest that having great levels of physical fitness, especially related to aerobic endurance, may help to have higher levels of physical self-concept and self-esteem as components of mental health in Spanish adolescents.

Automated summary

The purpose of this study was to analyze the relationship between physical fitness and mental health in young people, and to explore if self-esteem has longitudinal relationships with physical fitness. The results indicated that physical self-concept was related to physical fitness, while self-esteem was especially related to the Course Navette test.