A play-based sport psychology curriculum improves youth self-regulation: findings from a quasi-experimental study and a randomized controlled trial

Background/purpose Youth mental health needs vastly exceed clinical capacity, with barriers most pronounced in economically marginalized communities. While physical activity demonstrably reduces internalizing symptoms, school-based approaches that train emotion regulation skills under ecologically valid stress conditions remain scarce. We evaluated intellectual athlete (IA), a sport psychology curriculum integrating breathwork (parasympathetic activation), self-talk (cognitive reappraisal), and visualization (anticipatory regulation) within structured play. Methods We conducted two sequential controlled studies in public schools serving predominantly Hispanic/Latinx youth from low-income communities (grades 2–8; N = 277). Study 1 (elementary; n = 143) employed individual-level randomization comparing IA to an activity-matched control isolating mental skills components. Study 2 (middle school; n = 134) used a naturalistic quasi-experimental design wherein students selected for sports teams received IA integrated into practices, while non-selected peers formed the control group. The intellectual athlete play-built resilience curriculum is a play-based mental performance training program that embeds emotional regulation skills within active sport and movement contexts. Outcomes included the IA Survey assessing skill frequency, the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale-2 (GAD-2), and the Connor–Davidson Resilience Scale-2 (CD-RISC-2). Results IA produced consistent improvements relative to controls. Significant effects emerged for daily skill use (F = 10.90, p < 0.001, η p 2 = 0.05), home-based skill effectiveness ( F = 10.29, p = 0.002, η p 2 = 0.04), frequency of home use ( F = 5.15, p = 0.024, η p 2 = 0.02), perceived control during athletic challenges ( F = 3.92, p = 0.048, η p 2 = 0.02), and persistence under difficulty ( F = 9.02, p = 0.003, η p² = 0.04). Critically, middle school participants showed anxiety reduction (GAD-2: F = 4.79, p = 0.030, η p 2 = 0.04) and enhanced adaptability (CD-RISC-2: F = 10.90, p = 0.001, η p 2 = 0.08). Conclusions/implications These findings demonstrate that integrating regulatory skill instruction within authentic stress contexts constitutes a viable universal prevention model. The IA curriculum's foundation in emotion regulation frameworks (attentional deployment, cognitive change, response modulation), combined with state-dependent learning, appears to facilitate generalization. Successful delivery by trained non-clinicians supports scalability in under-resourced districts. Future research should examine long-term maintenance and compare IA against established social–emotional learning (SEL) curricula.