Associations of Sport Participation with Depression and Anxiety among Chinese Minority Adolescents

This study aimed to explore associations of sport participation with anxiety and depressive symptoms among Chinese minority adolescents. A cross-sectional study was conducted among Chinese adolescents in Tibet. A convenience sample method was used to select participants. Finally, 1452 students completed the survey and 1421 (52.10% girls, Grades 4–9, 13.46 ± 1.41 years old) adolescents met the inclusion criteria of analysis. Sociodemographic variables, sport participation, depression and anxiety were evaluated by self-reported questionnaires. Among 1421 participants, 80% of adolescents lived in rural area and more than four fifths of participants had siblings. The parent’s education level of participants was mostly middle school and below. The prevalence of participating in sport more than 3 times per week was only 7%. More than one-third of adolescents reported they never engaged in sport and 36.5% of adolescents took part in sport 1–3 times per month. In comparison with participants who never engaging in sport participation, those who engaging in one to three time/month (OR = 0.71%, 95% CI: 0.54–0.93) and more than 3 times/week (OR = 0.50%, 95% CI: 0.32–0.79) were less likely to report severe depression symptoms. Compared with participants who never had sport participation, only those counterparts who engaged in sport more than 3 times/week had lower odds for severe anxiety (OR = 0.46%, 95% CI: 0.29–0.73). These results indicated that engaging in sport participation was negatively associated with depression and anxiety. There is an urgent need to improve the level of sport participation for Chinese minority adolescents, and to explore the mechanism of exercise under hypoxia on mental health.