Pediatric Exercise Science, 1995, 7, 379-388 O 1995 Human Kinetics Publishers, inc.

Violence and High School Sports Participation

David S. Levin, Edward A. Smith, Linda L. Caldwell, and Jennifer Kimbrough

This study sought to examine whether athletes are more violent, delinquent, or both than their nonathlete classmates. Survey data from 2,436 high school students indicated no significant differences for violent or delinquent behav- iors between athletes and nonathletes. However, analysis of the data by the type of sport indicated noncontact sport athletes were less likely to engage in various violent and delinquent behaviors than were contact sport athletes and nonathletes. These relationships were found for both males and females. Noncontact sports may provide some protective effect with regards to vio- lence and delinquency that contact sports do not.

In recent years, the incidence of violence among adolescents has become a major concern (18, 20, 28, 29). Homicide is currently the third leading cause of death for American adolescents between the ages of 10 and 19 (41). The incidence of fights between adolescents is not well documented; in many in- stances, however, fighting is a precursor to more serious fatal and nonfatal injuries (8). While much attention has been focused on factors associated with violent behavior among youth (6, 14), participation in sports has been consistently neglected as a possible correlate or contributing factor to violent behavior.

Given the media attention shown to acts of violence in professional sports, this omission of sports as a source for violent behavior is somewhat surprising. Acts of aggression and fights among players, as well as hostile behavior among spectators, are not uncommon. "To be good in sports, you have to be bad" (4, p. 23) is a statement Bredemeier and Shields suggest typifies the attitude among professional athletes and coaches. While there is discussion that the world of sport is disparate cognitively and emotionally from the everyday, "real" world (4), the apparent link between sports and aggression is still in question.

Of concern to this paper is whether the possible connection between aggressive/violent behavior and sports participation holds for adolescents who participate in sports. This is an important question because an estimated 5 million adolescents participate in interscholastic high school sports each year (25); these

David S. Levin is with the Fulton County Health Department, 99 Butler St. SE, Atlanta, GA 30303. Edward A. Smith is with the Department of Health Promotion and Behavior at the University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602. Linda L. Caldwell is with the Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies at the University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602. Jennifer Kimbrough is with Morehead Memorial Hospital, 117 East Kings Hwy., Eden, NC 27288.

380 - Levin, Smith, CaldweN, and Kimbrough

sports participants constitute a large percentage of the teenage population. Al- though there is a great deal of evidence to suggest that high school athletics enhance the physical, psychological, and social development of adolescents ( 1 , 22, 36, 43), it is important to realize there may also be some nonbeneficial correlates (e.g., 34).

One commonly held belief is that sports act as cathartic events for relieving aggression and "getting it out of your system" (15, 23, 27, 37), but the little research that has been done does not support this hypothesis (17,26,44). Contrary to this common belief, Goldstein (17) suggests that participation in sports- particularly contact sports-teaches and stimulates aggression outside of sports.

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between self- reported violent and aggressive behaviors and participation in sports. Because there is a strong correlation between participation in violent behavior and delin- quent acts (9), we also investigated the relationship between delinquency and sports participation. Differences among contact-sport athletes and noncontact- sport athletes were also examined, controlling for gender ( 1 , 2, 10).

Methods

Sample and Procedure

Data from a self-administered questionnaire were collected in the spring of 1994 from students in four high schools in a county located in the southeastern United States. Parents had been previously notified of the survey and were given the option of refusing their child's participation. On the day of the administration, the adolescents were given the same option. There were a total of 159 refusals (12 parents, 147 students). Of the remaining 2,862 participants, 106 surveys were omitted because the participants indicated the use of a nonexistent drug, thus calling into question the veracity of their answers. The remaining 2,756 surveys represent 91.2% of the students present on the day of administration. Approxi- mately 54% of the sample was female, and the average age was 16. Seventy- three percent were non-Hispanic white, and 22% were African American.

Measures

The closed-ended questionnaire included standardized items adapted from the Center for Disease Control Youth Risk Behavior Survey (19) to measure violent and delinquent behavior, and a question derived specifically for measuring athletic participation. Violent behavior was measured using one item concerned with assaulting other people in an offensive and antagonistic manner. Delinquent behaviors were measured using six questions, each measuring different aspects of problem behaviors (trouble at school, trouble with police, stealing, damaging property, carrying a weapon to get something, and canying a weapon to protect oneself). Each question was answered using a scale ranging from 0 (never engag- ing in the behavior over the past 12 months) to 5 (5 or more times of engaging in the behavior over the past 12 months). To avoid including those who occasion- ally or randomly participated in these antisocial acts, participation in violence and delinquency was defined as someone who engaged in the various behaviors

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three or more times in the past 12 months, thus attempting to capture those who had a more "violent or aggressive lifestyle."

Sports participation was measured by the students' responses (yes or no) to 12 different sports sponsored by their school. Students were then classified by gender as either a sports participant or non-sports participant. For the first set of analyses, sport participants were further divided into contact-sport participants (males: football, basketball, and wrestling; females: basketball) and noncontact- sport participants (males: tennis, baseball, soccer, cross-country, track, swimming, and golf; females: volleyball, softball, tennis, soccer, cross-country, track, and swimming). To further investigate the specific association between sports partici- pation and fighting, the second set of analyses presents the relationship between assault and each individual sport.

Data analyses were performed using the SPSS-PC software. All statistical tests of significance employed Yates's corrected chi-square, with a minimal level of acceptance of .05.

Results Among the males, a comparison of all sport participants (n = 604) with all non-sport participants (n = 490) indicates no significant differences with regard to violence or any of the delinquent behaviors (Table 1). When male athletes are divided into contact and noncontact sports, however, a different pattern

Table 1 Percentage Distribution of Delinquent and Violent Behavior of Male High School Students by Sport Participation

Nonparticipant All Contact sports Noncontact sports (n = 490) (n = 604) (n = 425) (n = 178)

Assault 16.0 16.6 20.5 7.3**a.***b Trouble at school 27.0 23.1 26.3 15.7**".b Stealing 5.3 3.8 4.3 2.8 Trouble with police 5.7 4.5 5.4 2.2 Damaging property 11.9 11.4 12.0 10.1 Carrying a weapon 3.3 1.7 2.1 0.6

to get something Carrying a weapon 28.7 24.8 26.6 20.8*"

to protect self

Note. Numbers in parentheses are the total sample size for each group. All columns may not equal the sum of the contact-sport and noncontact-sport columns due to missing values on individual sports. 'Contrast between noncontact-sport participants and nonparticipants. bContrast between contact sport participants and noncontact-sport participants. *Chi-square p < .05. **Chi-square p < .01. ***Chi-square p < .001.

382 - Levin, Smith, Caldwell, and Kimbrough

emerges. While not all differences are statistically significant, noncontact-sport athletes were less likely than anyone else to participate in each of the delinquent and violent behaviors listed. The findings indicate that noncontact-sport athletes were significantly less likely than either contact sport athletes or nonathletes to assault others (7.3% vs. 20.5% and 16.0%, respectively) or to get into trouble at school (15.7% vs. 26.3% and 27.0%, respectively). Noncontact-sport athletes were also significantly less likely than nonathletes to carry a weapon for protection (20.8% vs. 28.7%).

The females' rates of participation in all of the behaviors pertinent to these analyses is lower than that of the males (Table 2). Although there are significant differences among the same delinquent/violent behaviors as the males (assault, trouble at school, and carrying a weapon for self-protection), the pattern is different for females. The only significant difference between all female athletes and nonathletes was that athletes were less likely to get into trouble at school (7.7%) than nonathletes (12.0%). To further understand this difference, further analysis revealed that noncontact-sport athletes had a lower incidence of getting into trouble at school than non-sports participants (6.7%).

Similar to the males, female noncontact-sport athletes were much less likely to engage in assault (5.2%) than were female contact-sport athletes (14.4%). Unlike the males, however, these females were significantly less likely to engage

Table 2 Percentage Distribution of Delinquent and Violent Behavior of Female High School Students by Sport Participation

Nonparticipant All Contact sports Noncontact sports (n = 799) (n = 543) (n = 140) (n = 389)

Assault 7.0 7.4 14.4**b 5.2***d Trouble at school 12.0 7.7*a 10.0 6.7**c Stealing 1.1 2.0 2.9 1.8 Trouble with police 1.4 1.3 2.2 1 .O Damaging property 2.4 2.8 2.1 2.8 Canying a weapon 1 .O 0.0 0.0 0.0

to get something Carrying a weapon 8.8 7.7 12.9 5.9**d

to protect self

Note. Numbers in parentheses are the total sample size for each group. All columns may not equal the sum of the contact-sport and noncontact-sport columns due to missing values on individual sports. "Contrast between participants and nonparticipants. bContrast between contact-sport participants and nonparticipants. 'Contrast between noncontact-sport participants and nonparticipants. dContrast between contact-sport participants and noncontact-sport participants. *Chi-square p < .05. **Chi-square p < .01. ***Chi-square p < .001.

Violence and Sports - 383

in violence (assault) than nonathletes (7.0%). Furthermore, noncontact-sport ath- letes were less likely to carry a weapon for protection (5.9%) than either contract sport athletes (12.9%) or nonathletes (8.8%).

Figures 1 and 2 focus specifically on physical violence (assault). For each individual sport, the percentage of males or females who indicated they had beaten up someone three or more times in the past 12 months is presented. Because many students participate in more than one high school sport, noncontact- sport athletes are defined as those who did not participate in any contact sports.

To provide further insight into who is more likely to engage in assaultive behavior, Figure 1 indicates that among males, participants in the three contact sports (wrestling, football, and basketball) were consistently higher in assaultive behavior than participants in the noncontact sports. Wrestlers had the highest incidence of assaultive behavior (24.4%), cross-country runners the lowest (0.0%).

Figure 2 indicates a similar pattern for females. Basketball players had the highest rate of assault among females (14.4%). Tennis players were least likely to assault others (1.6%).

Discussion

The results from this study suggest that the nature of the sport in which a high school student participates may be associated with problem behaviors. For both males and females, noncontact-sport athletes in this sample seem to have a lower propensity to participate in three of the delinquent and violent behaviors when compared to both nonathletes and contract-sport athletes. In particular, noncontact-sport athletes showed significantly lower rates when compared to either nonathletes or contact-sport athletes for such behaviors as getting in trouble at school, assaulting others, and carrying weapons for protection. While only three of the seven delinquent and violent behaviors produced significant results, these three may be of greatest concern because the proportion of students who engage in these behaviors is higher than the other behaviors.

These results are consistent with studies completed 15-25 years ago that found an inverse relationship between high school sport participants and delin- quency (5, 21, 32). More recent studies have also concluded that competitive athletics may influence positive character traits (13), including honesty, integrity, and acceptance of authority (16). These studies, however, did not separate sport participants by type of sport. A study by Segrave et al. (33), in which only contact sport athletes were examined, found that the rates of delinquency and violence among contact sport athletes were not statistically significantly different from the rates of non-sports participants, a finding repeated in this study (except for female assaultive behavior). The Segrave et al. study was one of the first to demonstrate that the beneficial effects of sport participation (or in this case negatively associated behaviors) may depend upon the type of sport in which one participates.

A potential reason for lower rates of some problem behaviors among noncontact-sport athletes may be found in the psychological characteristics of these youth. When noncontact-sport athletes have been tested for intelligence and moral reasoning, for example, they have consistently tested higher than contact-sport athletes (40). There is some evidence to suggest that moral reasoning

Contact Sport

Non-contact Sport

Non Wrestling Football Basketball Golf Tennis Swimming Soccer Track Baseball Cross Country Athlete (N=135) (N=271) (N=211) (N=26) (N=34) (N=25) (N=51) (N=22) (N=44) (N=31) (N=490)

Figure 1 - Percentage distribution of assaults by male high school students by sport. Note. Noncontact sports such as golf, tennis, swimming, soccer, track, baseball, and cross country exclude all athletes who reported having also played contact sports such as wrestling, football, and basketball.

Contact Sport

PZZ] Non-contact Sport

Non Basketball Volleyball Soccer Softball Swimming Cross Country Track Tennis Athlete (N=139) (N=95) (N=100) (N=88) (N=98) (N=33) (N=110) (N=62) (N=799)

Figure 2 - Percentage distribution of assaults by female high school students by sport. Note. Noncontact sports such as volleyball, I

soccer, softball, swimming, cross country, track, and tennis exclude all athletes who also participated in contact sports such as basketball. $

386 - Levin, Smith, Caldwell, and Kimbrough

is negatively associated with aggression (3). According to Bredemeier (3), "Chil- dren who were sophisticated in their moral reasoning were less likely to react aggressively in a conflict situation" (p. 10). This may shed some light on why noncontact-sport athletes have demonstrated lower rates of delinquency and vio- lent behavior.

Those opposed to contact sports for adolescents often base their argument on the premise that aggression is directly taught as part of the sport. The argument presented suggests that contact-sport athletes are taught specific skills in aggres- sion and are rewarded for displaying those skills (31), and that coaches do little to discourage such behavior off the field (35). Thus, it is suggested that this approval or rewarding of aggression only serves to intensify the extent to which athletes incorporate violence into their behavior apart from the athletic event (7).

The data presented here, however, do not support the contention that contact sports breed violence and delinquency. In fact, the male contact-sport athletes in this study are quite comparable to the nonathletes with regard to most of the behaviors analyzed in this study. Rather, it is the noncontact-sport athletes, male and female, who are different from their peers because they are less likely to engage in these behaviors. Female basketball players, however, do not follow this pattern; they are 2-3 times more likely to engage in fights.

The results from this study should be viewed with some caution. Without longitudinal data it would be premature to determine whether the results of this study and others like it are attributable to sport participation. The process by which children select their sports is influenced by many factors. Perhaps aggres- sive children are encouraged to participate in sports such as football and wrestling, and less aggressive children are encouraged to participate in sports such as cross- country running. Furthermore, the role of other confounding variables such as drug use (12), previous exposure to child abuse (11, 42), race (6), and socio- economic status (30, 38, 39), have all been linked to adolescent violence and are simultaneously related to access to different types of sports.

These findings suggest that noncontact sports may offer an ameliorative effect, perhaps by providing a structured environment in which adolescents may achieve some personal success and a sense of mastery. This participation may also increase the students' perception of the value for their education, school, and community (24).

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NIH Consensus Development Conference Physical Activity and Cardiovascular Health

December 18-20,1995

Physical Activity and cardiovascular health is the subject of an up- coming consensus development conference sponsored by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The conferences will take place at the Natcher Conference Center at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. The conference is open to the public. The purpose of the conference is to reach agreement on physical activity and cardio- vascular health.

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