LGB Students and School Sports: A Positive Youth Development Approach

This study investigates whether the relationship between participation in school-organized sports and youth development is similar for both heterosexual students and those who identify as gay, lesbian, or bisexual. Utilizing a survey of 72,004 high schoolers, results suggest sports participation enh...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inAERA Online Paper Repository
Main Authors Nickodem, Kyle, Van Boekel, Martin, Stanke, Luke, Zamora, Jose R. Palma, Vue, Kory, Bulut, Okan, Kang, Youngsoon, Chang, Yu-Feng, Rodriguez, Michael C
Format Report
LanguageEnglish
Published AERA Online Paper Repository 10.04.2016
Subjects
Adolescent Development
Anxiety
Athletes
Athletics
Bullying
Family Violence
Grade 11
Grade 9
Homosexuality
LGBTQ People
Secondary School Students
Stress Variables
Student Attitudes
Student Participation
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Summary:This study investigates whether the relationship between participation in school-organized sports and youth development is similar for both heterosexual students and those who identify as gay, lesbian, or bisexual. Utilizing a survey of 72,004 high schoolers, results suggest sports participation enhances a sense of support and developmental skill for gay or lesbian students in a similar manner to heterosexual students, but the association is more moderate for bisexual students. Despite offering some benefits to LGB students, sports participation was associated with greater developmental challenges for LGB athletes as compared to LGB non-athletes instead of fewer challenges as experienced by their heterosexual athlete and non-athlete counterparts.