Despite the widespread belief that organized sports are beneficial for the personal development of adolescents, there is a scarcity of empirical evidence to substantiate this assertion. To clarify this, we conducted a rapid search of six databases (PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, PsycINFO, ERIC, and SPORTDiscus) for papers published between 2019 and May 2025. Seven peer-reviewed studies (two randomized, one quasi-experimental, two longitudinal, and two mixed/qualitative) with 68,553 participants that satisfied the PRISMA-2020 eligibility criteria were identified. In each of these studies, structured sports or physical education programs enhanced at least two CASEL skills: self-management/emotion regulation by standardised mean differences of 0.38–0.72, relationship skills by 0.34–0.61, and self-awareness and responsible decision-making by more minor but still significant amounts (≈0.30–0.50) when reflection tasks were applied. Interventions that were conducted by competent, autonomy-supportive coaches and lasted a minimum of 12 weeks exhibited effect sizes that were up to 50% greater than those of short or unintentional programs. Even school violence was reduced by an eight-month TPSR curriculum. In terms of practicality, these results demonstrate that "intentional sport" is a cost-effective and scalable method for assisting adolescents in the development of their emotional control, moral reasoning, and teamwork skills that are critical for academic success, mental health, and job readiness. Sports providers should incorporate explicit SEL objectives into their season-long curricula, provide facilitators with a minimum of eight hours of SEL-specific training, and allocate time for structured reflection during each session to maximize their impact. Researchers should now employ multi-wave, mixed-method designs to evaluate long-term retention and causal pathways.
Kanaros et al. (Tue,) studied this question.