Physical and sports activity, self-concept and school performance in Portuguese adolescents

Abstract

The purpose of this investigation was to study the relations between physical activity/sports, self-concept, and school performance, among youngsters between 12 and 19 years of age. Comparisonswere made taking into account the recommendations made by American College of Sports Medicine/American Heart Association for physical activity. The sample consisted of 624 individuals (268 males,354 females, and two unclassified by sex). Self-concept was measured with the Self-Description Questionnaire II (SDQ-II) translated and validated for Portuguese by Gonçalves e Vasconcelos-Raposo.Academic achievement/ school performance was defined based on the number of times the individuals failed. The results showed that there are positive relationships between physical activity and several dimensions of the self-concept and negative correlations between the level of physical activity andacademic achievement.