Sport practice and depression during adolescence: Special emphasis on performance level and sport discipline

Depression is one of the most prevalent diseases worldwide, with almost half of the adolescent population affected according to latest research. Given this serious burden of disease, research points toward interventions that could effectively fight this disease in this population subset. One of these pivotal interventions is physical activity, although the effects of different sport types and sport performance level on depression have not yet been studied in adolescent populations. Accordingly, the objective of the current study was to assess the relationship between depressive symptoms, sport type and performance level in a large adolescent population.