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The benefits of sports activities and all kinds of physical activities for well-being and feelings of happiness are important to investigate at various times of life. We studied adolescents to broaden the knowledge of well-being and feelings of happiness in the sample of sports-active and sports-inactive boys and girls. The EPOCH questionnaire was used for the research. We found statistically significant differences in the comparison of the individual qualities of social and emotional well-being: Engagement, perseverance, optimism and connectedness versus quality Happiness between sports-active and sports-inactive girls, sports-active and sports-inactive boys, between the level of sporting activity, where the level of sports does not matter because any sport brings significantly greater feelings of happiness for people who do sports in any way compared to people who do not do sports and do not engage in these activities. It is interesting to note that those who play sports six times a week experienced the greatest degree of happiness, and in the other qualities of well-being with the qualities of engagement, perseverance, optimism and connectedness, they reached statistically significantly better feelings than individuals without sports activities in their lives.
Faculty of Physical Education and Sport, Department of Sport Sciences in Educology and Humanities, Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovak Republic
Pavol Peráček
Faculty of Physical Education and Sport, Department of Sport Games, Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovak Republic
*Address all correspondence to: janka.perackova@uniba.sk
1. Introduction
Being happy is the desire of the vast majority of people. Happiness is a composite of life satisfaction.
Happiness is a strong emotion that can be seen as a judgement of satisfaction with one’s life or as an overweight of positive over negative feelings in one’s emotional state [1]. The author stated that happiness centrally includes a positive evaluation of one’s life or important aspects of it at the same time, and an implicit judgement that one’s life is going well. This is the evaluation of a positive level of life, which we can describe as well-being. But the author’s view [1] on this issue is that happiness includes a judgement of one’s welfare, but it is not a judgement of one’s happiness, so the explanation for this is that happiness and welfare are distinct but closely related. In my opinion, happiness can be the outcome of well-being for someone, and well-being can result in feelings of happiness for someone.
1.1 Adolescence
A critical period in human life is the period of being an adolescent. It is the phase of life that bridges childhood to adulthood, and experts mention the range of age from 10 to 19 years. The great majority of adolescents are included in the age-based definition of a child as stated in Article 1 of the United Nations Convention on Rights of the Child [2], where the child is indicated as a person under the age of 18 years.
Why the critical period? Adolescence is characteristic of changes in psychological, social, moral, sexual and physical growth and maturation. In most cases, it is an unexpected birth of a new individual personality with personal integrity with strong feelings of belonging to peers and mates from their own age category. Authors [3] present that in adolescent, neurodevelopment occurs in brain regions associated with motivation, impulsivity and addiction. The adolescent years are characteristic of changes in body composition, physical fitness and behavioural changes in participation in physical activity, especially in adolescent girls [4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11]. Comparison of some opinions on perceiving one’s body in the research by [6] shows that the research results revealed that the most satisfied with their body image were sports-active adolescent boys, and the highest pride in their own bodies in terms of attractiveness felt sports-active adolescent boys as well. Negative emotions and bad feelings about their appearance were statistically significantly experienced more by sports-inactive adolescents and even much more by girls.
Worrying trends in declining physical activity have been reported for several years [12]. The period of the COVID-19 pandemic has intensified the deflection from the physical activity of young people [10] with the result that the biggest differences between the mean frequency score of doing before and during the COVID-19 pandemic were in activities allied to sporting activity (Δ = .80). The curfew slowed outdoor activities and has also brought sudden changes in the lives of young active people. This was a time of uncertainty and stress. A significant decline in leisure time sports and exercise activities also presents research by [13]. A scoping review of 84 studies on the physical activity of children and adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic from 1672 searched studies brought evidence of a decrease in physical activity [14]. Evidence in an article [15] reported significant decreases in physical activity, increases in sedentary behaviour and disrupted sleep schedules/sleep quality in children and adolescents. The decrease in physical activity during the COVID-19 pandemic is a health concern [16]. The absence of a healthy lifestyle negatively influenced well-being. Students with poor lifestyles had higher anxiety, depression and stress [17]. Our personal experience is that many adolescents who were forcibly forced to stop their organised or nonorganized physical activity and sports due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic have not returned to it today.
1.2 Well-being
Well-being is an area of study, investigation and research in psychology and focuses on interpreting whether a person is functioning well and feeling well.
The term well-being appears as a link on Google in the number of 9,310,000,000 as of October 5, 2022. Here is the evidence that the interest in this term is currently enormous.
Most people are interested in a comfortable life. Most people are trying to enjoy life because people live for emotions and mostly for positive emotions. Well-being is the state of feeling healthy and happy, simply said feeling well in various areas, emotionally, physically and socially. The tendency to think positively brings greater emotional well-being. Being physically fit brings greater physical well-being. Having satisfying relationships and being surrounded by close people bring social well-being. Being emotionally, physically and socially fit is the way to well-being and quality of life.
1.3 Happiness
Subjective well-being and life satisfaction are often called happiness. Happiness is related to positive emotions. For someone, happiness is not the result of having money and being rich. For someone, happiness is not the result of not having illnesses and being healthy. The feeling of being happy differs from person to person. Happiness is an emotional state that is characterised as a feeling in the present moment. Those who strive for an eternal feeling of happiness are often disappointed and ultimately sad because their expectations were not fulfilled. It should not be a goal in life of a person to feel happiness in every minute of life; happiness is not the permanent state of mind. People should rather be oriented to contentment, that is, satisfaction with life and well-being.
As Veenhoven [18] said, happiness is a state of mind and the degree to which a person evaluates the overall quality of his/her present life-as-a-whole positively.
If we assume that the experience of joy and happiness can improve life, then we can say that sporting activity improves life because sport brings joy, happiness and satisfaction with life and brings positive feelings to an individual. Emotions are also an integral part of exercising and sporting activities. Exercise reduces stress and increases the feeling of happiness [8]. The article by the author [19] presented that the literature on subjective well-being (SWB), which also included the area of happiness and various other components of subjective well-being, is among experts in large scale discussed and the components of SWB are harder to measure.
For one’s certain pleasant state of mind can be tended to say that one is happy. Friendship connections and social support are important to people’s happiness. In the article [20], the presence of happiness is described as a positive effect, with social connection, trust and wellness. Studies of thousands of people in the research work of [21] show the key to being happy. The best advice is to learn the hidden power of complete inner engagement, for which the author uses the term flow. Undertake things and tasks for your own sake and challenge yourself with tasks that require a high degree of skills and commitment.
1.4 Benefits of physical activity and sports for well-being and happiness
Physical activity is defined [22] as a multifaceted movement of an individual that a person performs with their organs of movement. It is a physical activity stimulated by muscular work. With its effects, it contributes to the proper development of a person, plays a very important role in the field of ontogenesis and affects the overall growth and development of skeletal tissue. In addition to physical health, it also has beneficial effects on the mental health of a person.
The terminology of sport [23] characterises this term ‘sport’ as an organised, specific and competitive activity aimed at achieving maximum sports performance, thus significantly focusing on the difference between the terms sport and physical activity.
Physical activity also has a positive influence on the psychomotor development and psychological well-being of a person. The positive influence of sports helps improve the quality of life of an active participant. Two subjective dimensions of quality of life gave evidence [8] that sporting activity positively influenced the perception of the dimension of quality of life enjoyment and satisfaction and the dimension of global satisfaction with life among adolescents. Sports-active boys are statistically significantly more satisfied with the domain of quality of life enjoyment and satisfaction in comparison with sports-inactive boys (p = 0.027). In global satisfaction with life, the statistical difference between sports-active boys and sports-inactive boys (p < 0.001) and sports-active girls and sports-inactive girls (p = 0.026) was found.
Boys spent more time participating in sports activities than girls [24], and boys reported a higher perception of self-competence and global self-worth than girls. Both boys and girls who actively participated in sports activities were more likely to perceive a higher level of self-worth than sports-inactive boys and girls.
Adolescents studying high school have an increase in sedentary life due to the time devoted to the necessity of spending time in school and spending time learning the high school curriculum. Interventions that promote healthy lifestyles for all are people encouragement in physical activities and sports.
Adolescents, boys and girls who participated in after-school sports showed higher levels of quality of life perception in the research [25].
A systematic review [26] with 87 articles included in meta-analyses from the years 2006 to 2018 demonstrated strong evidence that physical activity improves the quality of life.
The results of studies conducted by Penedo and Dahn [27] have shown that physical activity interventions have beneficial effects on health-related quality of life.
The sample consists of 216 students from secondary schools in Slovakia, mainly from schools located in the capital city of Bratislava (Table 1). The selection was intentional based on the accessibility. The determination of sports activity and sports inactivity was based on the level of participation in extracurricular sporting activities. We investigated the mode of sporting activity. Sports-active adolescents are those who are involved and participated in regularly organised sports (with club membership and perform sports activities more than twice a week for a total of at least 120 minutes). Sports-active adolescents are also those who are involved in sports regularly nonorganised, the so-called recreationally (without club membership, but more than twice a week for a total of at least 120 minutes). Sports-inactive adolescents are those who play sports only occasionally recreationally (irregularly) and those who do not engage in sporting activities.
Gender
Sports-active
Sports-inactive
Total (Σ)
n
%
n
%
n
%
Male (Boys)
50
23.1
51
23.7
101
46.8
Female (Girls)
61
28.2
54
25
115
53.2
Total (Σ)
111
51.3
105
48.7
216
100
Table 1.
Representation of sports-active and sports-inactive male and female adolescents in the sample.
The abbreviations in the whole text: n = number of participants or frequencies; % = percentage; cm = centimetres, kg = kilogrammes, SD = standard deviation.
The decimal age of sports-active boys was 17.37 (SD = 1.20), and in sports-inactive boys, the decimal age was 17.33 (SD = 1.13). The mean decimal age of sports-active girls was 17.61 (SD = .89), and in sports-inactive girls, the decimal age was 18.05 (SD = .92).
The amount 50 of sports-active boys is composed of boys who are involved in regularly organised sports and represent quantity 19, regularly nonorganized sports with quantity 15, regularly organised and regularly nonorganized sports with quantity 9, regularly organised and recreational occasional sports with quantity 2, and regularly nonorganized and recreational occasional sports with quantity 5 (Table 2).
Mode and variety of the sporting activity, according to gender
Frequency
Per cent (%)
Sports regularly organised—boys
19
8.8
Sports regularly organised—girls
4
1.9
Sports regularly nonorganised—boys
15
6.9
Sports regularly nonorganised—girls
32
14.8
Sports recreationally occasionally—boys
27
12.5
Sports recreationally occasionally—girls
32
14.8
Sports-inactive—boys
24
11.1
Sports-inactive—girls
22
10.2
Sports regularly organised and regularly nonorganised—boys
9
4.2
Sports regularly organised and regularly nonorganised—girls
1
0.5
Sports regularly organised and recreationally occasionally—boys
2
0.9
Sports regularly nonorganised and recreationally occasionally—boys
5
2.3
Sports regularly nonorganised and recreationally occasionally—girls
24
11.1
Total
216
100
Table 2.
Mode and variety of the sporting activity, according to gender.
The amount 51 of sports-inactive boys is composed of boys who are involved in sporting activities only occasionally recreationally (irregularly, less than twice a week and less than 120 minutes a week) with the quantity 27 and those who do not engage in sporting activities with the quantity 24 (Table 2).
The amount 61 of sports-active girls is composed of girls who are involved and participated in regularly organised sports and represent the quantity 4, regularly nonorganised sports with the quantity 32, regularly organised and regularly nonorganised sports with the quantity 1, and regularly nonorganised and recreational occasional sports with the quantity 24 (Table 2).
The amount 54 of sports-inactive girls is composed of girls who are involved and participated in sporting activities only occasionally recreationally (irregularly, less than twice a week and less than 120 minutes a week) with the quantity 32, and those who do not engage in sporting activities with the quantity 22 (Table 2).
Basic anthropometric data, such as body height and body weight, are presented in Table 3.
Gender and sporting activities
Body Height
Body Weight
cm
SD
kg
SD
Sports-active boys
181.06
7.49
72.22
10.62
Sport-inactive boys
175.72
8.70
67.75
13.15
Total boys
178.37
8.52
69.96
12.12
Sport-active girls
169.98
6.65
59.51
6.58
Sport-inactive girls
168.91
7.52
61.50
12.66
Total girls
169.48
7.06
60.44
9.91
Table 3.
Body height and body weight of members from the sample.
In a comparison of the range of performing a weekly sporting activity between sports-active and sports-inactive boys it is evident that a greater number of minutes were devoted to sports among sports-active boys 402.40 minutes per week (SD = 142.14) than among sports-inactive boys (recreational occasional sports) 41.77 minutes per week (SD = 42.03).
The ratio of this range of performing a weekly sporting activity between sports-active girls and sports-inactive girls (occasional recreational sports) is 215.90 minutes per week (SD = 70.66) to 57.78 minutes per week (SD = 66.18). The frequency of sporting activity per week is shown in Table 4. Mostly 21.3% of persons from the sample did not do any sporting activity or the same percentage performed sporting activities three times a week. The smallest number of people who performed weekly sporting activity with the highest frequency seven times a week was 7 representing 3.2%.
Sporting activity frequency
n
%
No sporting activity
46
21.3
once
28
13.0
Twice a week
31
14.4
Three times a week
46
21.3
Four times a week
24
11.1
Five times a week
18
8.3
Six times a week
16
7.4
Seven times a week
7
3.2
Total
216
100.0
Table 4.
Weekly frequency of performing the sporting activity in the entire sample.
Dividing the sample into sports-active boys, sports-inactive boys, sports-active girls and sports-inactive girls, the presented numbers and percentages are created that are presented in Table 5.
Gender and sporting activities Frequency
Weekly frequency of performing the sporting activity
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Total (Σ)
Sports-active boys %
0
0
1 2.0
15 30.0
11 22.0
7 14.0
14 28.0
2 4.0
50 100
Sport-inactive boys %
24 47.1
13 25.5
11 21.6
3 5.9
0
0
0
0
51 100
Sport-active girls %
0
0
5 8.2
25 41.0
13 21.3
11 18.0
2 3.3
5 8.2
61 100
Sport-inactive girls %
22 40.7
15 27.8
14 25.9
3 5.6
0
0
0
0
54 100
Table 5.
Weekly frequency of performing the sporting activity in sports-active and sports-inactive boys and girls.
In total, 173 (80.1%) members of the entire sample (n = 216) felt mostly healthy and 43 (19.9%) felt not mostly healthy (3 sports-active boys—1.4%; 11 sports-active girls—5.1%; 16 sports-inactive boys—7.4%; 13 sports-inactive girls—6.0%).
2.1.2 EPOCH questionnaire
Happiness is difficult to measure and investigate due to its subjective nature. To measure social and emotional well-being, which includes the happiness domain, we used the EPOCH Measure of Adolescent Well-being Questionnaire [28], which contains 20 items from individual qualities of social and emotional well-being. Many studies attest to the validity of subjective self-report measures, where happiness also belongs [29, 30, 31, 32].
The EPOCH measure of adolescent well-being created by [28], as a brief, reliable and positively worded multidimensional measure, is the contribution to empirical testing for the well-being of adolescents.
The EPOCH well-being measure orientates to five domains of positive characteristics in adolescents that could foster well-being, physical health and other positive outcomes in adulthood.
The findings support the EPOCH measure as an adequate scale and inform about sensitive approaches to comparing mean scores across cultures [33]. The reliability and validity of the measure for the Slovakian adolescents were realised [34]. The findings of several studies [35, 36, 37] provide a recommendation based on empirical support for using the EPOCH questionnaire to investigate adolescent well-being.
The EPOCH Measure for Adolescent Well-being is a brief multidimensional measure that contributes to the empirical testing of well-being to assess adolescent positive psychological functioning. EPOCH consists of five subcomponents, five domains, five different positive characteristics that together support the assessment of a higher level of well-being [28]:
E Engagement (interest/involvement)—Assesses the general tendency to engage in various activities in life, to be emotionally involved in those activities, to have interest in doing those activities and the ability to be engrossed in the activity.
P Perseverance (completion/perseverance)—Evaluates a person’s ability to follow and fulfil their goals even in the face of certain obstacles. It is the ability to take pleasure in getting things done, enjoy doing things and finish them. It is the manifestation of conscientiousness as a personality trait.
Optimism—Evaluates a person’s hope and positive outlook and expectations for the future, the tendency to see things and situations from a favourable point of view, even when some negative situations occur, they are accepted and perceived as something temporary. Maintaining optimism is the key factor in perseverance.
C Connectedness (involvement in social relationships)—Assesses the feeling of support from others, the feeling of being loved, accepted by others, provided with friendship, be appreciated and the presentation of having satisfying relationships with others.
H Happiness—Evaluates a person’s relatively stable and positive mood, happiness and loving life; it does not focus on a momentary positive emotion, but it especially assesses whether the person is generally cheerful and satisfied as a steady state of his/her own feelings. Optimism and perseverance as psychological constructs are at the top of the explanation of happiness feelings.
Each quality consisted of four items that the respondent rated on a FIVE-point Likert scale (Tables 6 and 7).
E: Engagement (interest/involvement)
(E = mean of = E1 to E4)
P: Perseverance (completion/perseverance)
(P = mean of = P1 to P4)
O: Optimism
(O = mean of = O1 to O4)
C: Connectedness (involvement in social relationships)
(C = mean of = C1 to C4)
H: Happiness
(H = mean of = H1 to H4)
Table 6.
Distribution of items or determining individual qualities of social and emotional well-being in the EPOCH questionnaire.
Statements: Items 1–11.
Almost never
Sometimes
Often
Very often
Almost always
Scoring
1
2
3
4
5
Other statements: Items 12–20.
Not at all like me
A little like me
Somewhat like me
Mostly like me
Very much like me
Scoring
1
2
3
4
5
Table 7.
Evaluating scale in the EPOCH questionnaire.
2.1.3 Methods of processing and evaluating the data obtained
We used basic mathematical-statistical methods and the IBM SPSS Statistic Data Editor statistical program, Version 27, to process the data obtained. We used the Shapiro-Wilk test to determine the normality of the data distribution. We found that the normality of the data distribution did not apply to most of the comparison groups. We used the Mann-Whitney U-test to compare two independent groups for which the normality of data does not apply. Wilcoxon test was used to compare two paired samples and check whether the mean values of two dependent groups differ significantly from each other. We also used the Microsoft Excel program to process the results into graphs.
The results verify whether in this research design of measures of well-being and happiness in adolescent boys and girls, sports-active and sports inactive boys and girls we can find some ‘gender gap’ or ‘sports-active versus sports-inactive gap’. In this results section, we compared the research samples between boys and girls, sports-active and sports-inactive boys, sports-active and sports-inactive girls for each factor from EPOCH Measures for adolescent well-being and for overall well-being, too. In each factor, we compared each item (statement) of the factor between the mentioned research samples. It is necessary to write that the score given for each item of the questionnaire depends on the final decision of the individual and is given according to the momentary emotional condition of the individuals.
3.1 The factor: Engagement
Engagement involves intense concentration, emotional involvement, psychological absorption, focus and commitment [21]. Engagement influences happiness [38]. Engagement is about dedication, devotion, enthusiasm and passion. Being engaged describes being proactively involved in some activities, being there not just with the head, but also with the heart.
3.1.1 Comparison of engagement in boys and girls
Between the statements on factor engagement, we did not find statistically significant differences in the comparison boys versus girls (Figure 1).
Figure 1.
Engagement: Partial statements and overall factor in boys and girls.
In each statement from the factor, engagement had adolescent boys higher scores of evaluations than adolescent girls. It seems that boys when they are involved in some activity, which they like, are a little bit more engaged in than girls and are more absorbed in what they are doing with the difference in comparison between boys and girls Δ = .18 (in favour of boys). The highest score from the factor engagement for both boys and girls is assigned to the item E1 ´When I do an activity, I enjoy it so much that I lose track of time´ with the difference in the score comparison between boys and girls Δ = .12 (in favour boys).
3.1.2 Comparison of engagement in sports-active and sports-inactive boys
In comparison, between the score of items from the factor engagement and the overall factor engagement, we found the statistical difference at the 5% level of significance only in item E2 ´I get completely absorbed in what I am doing´ (U = 964, p = .027) between scores of sports-active boys and sports-inactive boys with the higher evaluation of own engagement in sport-active boys (Figure 2).
Figure 2.
Engagement: Partial statements and overall factor in sports-active boys and sports-inactive boys.
A comparison of the assigned scores for the individual items of the engagement factor in sports-active boys shows that there are also statistically significant differences in the assigned scores in up to five comparisons. The result of the statistical comparison of the third item E3 with the first item E1 shows the significance Z = −3.012, p = .003. The fourth item E4 with the first item E1 shows the significance Z = −3.770, p < .001. The third item E3 with the second item E2 shows the significance Z = −3.363, p = .001. The fourth item E4 with the second item E2 shows the significance Z = −5.112, p < .001. The fourth item E4 with the third item E3 shows the significance Z = −3.019, p = .003. The highest difference between the individual items is the difference between the second item E2 and the fourth item E4 (E2 – E4 = Δ = .96) where higher score is in the second item.
In a comparison of the scores for the items of engagement in sports-inactive boys, the statistical significance was found in four comparisons: E3 to E1 (Z = −3.832, p < .001); E4 to E1 (Z = −2.819, p = .005); E3 to E2 (Z = −3.292, p = .002); E4 to E2 (Z = −3.138; p = .002).
There is no statistical significance in the overall factor engagement—the mean of (E1 + E2 + E3 + E4)/4—between sports-active and sports-inactive boys.
3.1.3 Comparison of engagement in sports-active and sports-inactive girls
Between sports-active and sports-inactive girls, we found one more statistically significant difference than between sports-active and sports-inactive boys (the ratio is 1:2) in comparison of engagement items. The overall factor engagement reached a statistical difference at the 5% level of significance (Figure 3).
Figure 3.
Engagement: Partial statements and overall factor in sports-active girls and sports-inactive girls.
Statistically significant differences in the assigned scores are in comparison to the items: E2 ´I get completely absorbed in what I am doing´ (U = 1151.500, p = .004); E3 ´I get so involved in activities that I forget about everything else´ (U = 1264, p = .027). The overall factor ´Engagement´ shows significance (U = 1265.5, p = .032) compared to sports-active and sports-inactive girls. Sports-active girls are significantly more engaged when they do activities.
The level of evaluation of individual items from the factor of engagement among sports-active girls shows such a difference that it reaches to have three statistical significances of the differences in evaluation: E4 to E1 (Z = −2.518, p = .012); E3 to E2 (Z = −3.124, p = .002); E4 to E2 (Z = −4.133, p < .001).
In the comparison, the assigned score for individual items from factor engagement among sports-inactive girls is found to have four statistically significant differences in evaluation: E2 to E1 (Z = −3.184, p = .001); E3 to E1 (Z = −4.155, p < .001); E4 to E1 (Z = −3.781, p < .001); E3 to E2 (Z = −2.263, p = .024).
3.1.4 Comparison of engagement, partial statements and overall factor in sports-active, sports-inactive boys, sports-active girls and sports-inactive girls
The statement E2 ´I get completely absorbed in what I am doing´ reached sports-active boys the highest score among all statements (3.88), and the lowest score was found in the statement E4 ´When I am learning something new, I lose track of how much time has passed´, for sports-inactive girls (2.78) (Figure 4).
Figure 4.
Engagement: Partial statements, and overall factor in sports-active boys, sports-inactive boys, sports-active girls and sports-inactive girls.
The comparison within the overall factor engagement found the statistical significance between sports-active boys and sports-inactive girls (U = 985, p = .017), sports-active girls and sports-inactive girls (U = 1265,5, p = .032).
No statistical significance was found in the overall perseverance factor in the comparison of sports-active boys and sports-inactive boys, sports-active boys and sports-active girls, sports-inactive boys and sports-active girls, sports-inactive boys and sports-inactive girls.
Engagement is stronger when we engage in activities we like. Engagement is stronger when we cognitively focus on the activity that we perform right now. Engagement is stronger when we are in a state of being conscious or aware of the activity that we are involved in.
3.2 The factor: Perseverance
Perseverance is the factor that explains the ability to keep doing something difficult and endure even when one is no longer in control. It is the continuation in an effort to do something or achieve something despite difficulties and failures. Preparedness to cope with, master and overcome difficulties is part of perseverance.
3.2.1 Comparison of perseverance in boys and girls
Three statements (P1, P3 and P4) are with higher scores in boys than in girls. Only one statement P2 reached a higher score in girls (Figure 5). Girls can with stronger persuasion keep doing schoolwork until it is finished. No statistical significance was found between all pairs of statements for comparison between boys and girls.
Figure 5.
Perseverance: Partial statements, and overall factor in boys and girls.
The biggest differences Δ = .21 (in favour of boys, but not with the statistical significance) in presenting statements between boys and girls are in statements P1 and P4, where boys predominated over girls in thought and in the persuasion that they more than girls finish whatever they begin and that they are harder workers than girls. Perseverance as the overall factor composed of four items is almost at the same level in boys and girls so both boys and girls are able to follow and fulfil their goals even when difficulties occur.
3.2.2 Comparison of perseverance in sports-active boys and sports-inactive boys
When comparing sports-active and sports-inactive boys for the individual statements that create the perseverance factor, we found that there are significant differences in the strength of the evaluation of individual statements that were manifested in the statistical significance of the differences for the three statements and also for the overall perseverance factor (Figure 6).
Figure 6.
Perseverance: Partial statements and overall factor in sports-active boys and sports-inactive boys.
Sports-active boys more strongly evaluated their attitude to the expression that they finish everything they start (P1: U = 750, p < .001), that they stick to completing the plans they started (P3: U = 583.5, p < .001) and that they are harder workers (P4: U 889, p = 007) than sports-inactive boys. The overall perseverance factor also recorded statistical significance U = 748, p < .001 in favour of sports-active boys.
There were different evaluations for individual statements among sports-active boys that resulted in the finding of statistical significance when comparing the evaluations of the statements with each other: P2 with P1 (Z = −2.747, p = .006), P3 with P1 (Z = −2.491, p = .013), P3 with P2 (Z = −4.173, p < .001), P4 with P2 (Z = −3.664, p < .001), P4 with P3 (Z = −1.961, p = .050). We did not observe anything similar in sports-inactive boys.
3.2.3 Comparison of perseverance in sports-active girls and sports-inactive girls
Perseverance (Figure 7) contained in statements P2 ´I keep at my schoolwork until I am done with it´ and P4 ´I am a hard worker´ reached statistical significance in the differences between sports-active and sports-inactive girls (P2: U = 125,5, p = .024; P4: U = 1161,5, p = .005).
Figure 7.
Perseverance: Partial statements and overall factor in sports-active girls and sports-inactive girls.
Statistical significance in the value of U = 1258,5, p = .029 is also shown for the overall perseverance factor between sports-active and sports-inactive girls.
We present a comparison of the strength of expression for individual statements among sports-active girls, and we found four significant differences in expressions of the strength of attitude towards individual statements: P3 with P1 (Z = −3.995, p < .001), P4 with P1 (Z = −3.504, p < .001), P3 with P2 (Z = −2.223, p = .026), P4 with P2 (Z = −2.446, p = .014).
Three comparisons of statements each to the other from the perseverance factor among sports-inactive girls reached statistical significance: P3 with P1 (Z = −2.615, p = .009), P3 with P2 (Z = −2.399, p = .016), P4 with P3 (Z = −2.579, p = .010).
3.2.4 Comparison of perseverance, partial statements and overall factor in sports-active, sports-inactive boys, sports-active girls and sports-inactive girls
The highest value of the score from the individual statements from the perseverance factor occurs in statement P3 (3.98) in sports-active boys and the lowest value of the score is in statement P2 (2,72) in sports-inactive girls (Figure 8).
Figure 8.
Perseverance: Partial statements and overall factor in sports-active boys, sports-inactive boys, sports-active girls and sports-inactive girls.
The overall perseverance factor did not show statistically significant differences comparing sports-inactive boys and sports-inactive girls, sports-active boys and sports-active girls.
Statistical significance in the differences was recorded between sports-active boys and sports-inactive boys (U = 748, p < .001, in favour of sports-active boys), between sports-active girls and sports-inactive girls (U = 1258,5, p = .029 in favour of sports-active girls), between sports-inactive boys and sports-active girls (U = 1139, p = .015 in favour of sports-active girls) and between sports-active boys and sports-inactive girls (U = 895.5, p = .003 in favour of sports-active boys).
Perseverance helps a person to find who is better prepared for solving problems. A person can think he/she is prepared, but in a time of difficulties, preparedness will put him/her squarely in front of the mirror of truth, and then he/she can find if he/she is enough strong to overcome and solve these difficulties. Difficulties point out and discover the weaknesses of a person.
3.3 The factor: Optimism
Optimism can significantly influence mental and physical well-being by the promoting a healthy lifestyle, and optimistic subjects are more resilient to stress [39]. Optimism is presented in the study [40] as a protective factor with regard to well-being and physical and psychical health.
3.3.1 Comparison of optimism in boys and girls
Boys come out more optimistic (Figure 9) than girls about the future (O1: U = 2583.5, p < .001), about thinking that good things are going to happen to them (O3: U = 4695, p = .012), about the belief that things will work out no matter how difficult they seem (O4: U = 4732.5, p = .014).
Figure 9.
Optimism: Partial statements and overall factor in boys and girls.
The overall optimism factor in boys also shows statistical significance in comparison with girls (U = 3852.5, p < .001).
3.3.2 Comparison of optimism in sports-active boys and sports-inactive boys
Sports-active boys are more optimistic than sports-inactive boys in optimism’s statements O1 (U = 745.5, p = p < .001) and O4 (U = 926, p = .012). The overall factor of optimism reached statistical significance too in favour of sports-active boys (U = 832, p = .002) (Figure 10).
Figure 10.
Optimism: Partial statements and overall factor in sports-active boys and sports-inactive boys.
3.3.3 Comparison of optimism in sports-active girls and sports-inactive girls
In all investigated items, sports-active girls show more optimism than sport-inactive girls (Figure 11). Statistical significance is in the statement, which talks about the belief that good things are going to happen to them (U = 960, p < .001). The overall optimism factor is of statistical significance between sports-active girls and sports-inactive girls (U = 1297, p = .048), and therefore, we can write that those sports-active girls from our sample are more optimistic than sports-inactive girls.
Figure 11.
Optimism: Partial statements and overall factor in sports-active girls and sports-inactive girls.
3.3.4 Comparison of optimism, partial statements and overall factor in sports-active, sports-inactive boys, sports-active girls and sports-inactive girls
The highest value of the score reached statement O4 about the belief that things will work out, no matter how difficult they seem (4.28) in sports-active boys and the lowest score was in the statement O1 about the optimism of the future (2.69) in sports-inactive girls (Figure 12).
Figure 12.
Optimism: Partial statements and overall factor in sports-active boys, sports-inactive boys, sports-active girls and sports-inactive girls.
The comparison of the overall optimism factor revealed statistical significance: between sports-active and sports-inactive boys (U = 832, p = .002) in favour of sports-active boys; sports-active boys and sports-active girls (U 964.5, p = .001) in favour of sports-active boys; sports-active boys and sports-inactive girls (U = 494.5, p < .001) in favour of sports-active boys; sports-inactive boys and sports-inactive girls (U = 941, p = .005) in favour of sports-inactive boys; sports-active girls and sports-inactive girls (U = 1297, p = .048) in favour of sports-active girls. No statistical significance in differences was found between sports-inactive boys and sports-active girls.
Sports-active boys and girls and sports-inactive boys are more optimistic than sports-inactive girls.
3.4 The factor: Connectedness
Being socially related to someone is the essence of life. Social connectedness is very important in adolescents´ development. Strong friendships that develop during adolescence last for years.
3.4.1 Comparison of connectedness in boys and girls
Comparing the statements and the overall connectedness factor, we found that all statements (C1, C2, C3, C4) and the overall connectedness factor have a greater value of scores in girls. Three statements show statistical significance in comparison with boys: C1 (U = 4782, p = .020), C3 (U = 4780, p = .015), C4 (U = 4634.5, p = .010) (Figure 13).
Figure 13.
Connectedness: Partial statements and overall factor in boys and girls.
The girls presented more satisfying relationships with others than boys.
3.4.2 Comparison of connectedness in sports-active boys and sports-inactive boys
Sports-active boys are those who expressed that they have someone with whom they can share the good news, have people who stand by and care about them. The persuasion was so strong that their opinion on this issue brought statistical significance in statements C1 (U = 823, p = .002), C2 (U = 938, p = .015), C3 (U = 984.5, p = .037) and the overall connectedness factor C (U = 883, p = .007) in comparison with sports-inactive boys (Figure 14).
Figure 14.
Connectedness: Partial statements and overall factor in sports-active boys and sports-inactive boys.
3.4.3 Comparison of connectedness in sports-active girls and sports-inactive girls
The girls, nevertheless, whether sports-active or sports-inactive, are almost about at the same level of expression about friendships, about having someone to solve problems with or having real friends. Surprisingly, sports-inactive girls in all statements, except statement C1, reached higher values of scores. It was for three statements (C2, C3 and C4) and the overall connectedness factor. Only one statement C3 shows statistical significance (U = 1275.5, p = .021) (Figure 15).
Figure 15.
Connectedness: Partial statements and overall factor in sports-active girls and sports-inactive girls.
3.4.4 Comparison of connectedness, partial statements and overall factor in sports-active, sports-inactive boys, sports-active girls and sports-inactive girls
The highest value of the score reached statement C4 (4.59) in sports-inactive girls about the presentation of having friends that they really care about, and the lowest score was in statement C1 (3.14) in sports-inactive boys about the thought when something good happens that they have the people for sharing the news with (Figure 16).
Figure 16.
Connectedness: Partial statements and overall factor in sports-active boys, sports-inactive boys, sports-active girls and sports-inactive girls.
Comparing each sample to other samples in the overall connectedness factor, we found several statistically significant differences: between sports-active boys and sports-inactive boys (U = 883, p = .007) in favour of sports-active boys; between sports-inactive boys and sports-active girls (U = 1130.5, p = .012) in favour of sports active girls; between sports-inactive boys and sports-inactive girls (U = 824.5, p < .001) in favour to sports-inactive girls. No statistical significance was found in the comparison between sports-active boys and sports-active girls, and between sports-active boys and sports-inactive girls, sports-active girls and sports-inactive girls.
3.5 The factor: Happiness
3.5.1 Comparison of happiness in boys and girls
Boys dominated in two statements over girls and reached statistical significance in H1 (U = 4926, p = .047), and in H4 (U = 4741.5, p = .015). Girls dominated over boys also in two statements but without statistical significance. Overall happiness factor did not reach statistical significance though boys presented a stronger opinion of feeling happiness compared to girls (Figure 17).
Figure 17.
Happiness: Partial statements and overall factor in boys and girls.
3.5.2 Comparison of happiness in sports-active boys and sports-inactive boys
When comparing sports-active boys and sports-inactive boys (Figure 18), we found statistical significance in all compared statements and also in the overall happiness factor: H1 (U = 665.5, p < .001), H2 (U = 311.5, p < .001), H3 (U = 660, p < .001), H4 (U = 880, p = .005), overall happiness factor H (U = 389.5, p < .001).
Figure 18.
Happiness: Partial statements and overall factor in sports-active boys and sports-inactive boys.
3.5.3 Comparison of happiness in sports-active girls and sports-inactive girls
Three statements from the happiness factor out of four achieved statistical significance in the comparison of values between sports-active and sports-inactive girls in favour of sports-active girls (Figure 19): H1 (U = 1059, p = .001), H3 (U = 982.5, p < .001), H4 (U = 907.5, p < .001). The overall happiness factor also shows the statistical significance of the compared differences: H (U = 940.5, p < .001).
Figure 19.
Happiness: Partial statements and overall factor in sports-active girls and sports-inactive girls.
3.5.4 Comparison of happiness, partial statements and overall factor in sports-active, sports-inactive boys, sports-active girls and sports-inactive girls
The highest value of the score for happiness is given for the statement H3 ´I love life´ in sports-active boys (4.18). The lowest score reached the statement H2 ´I have a lot of fun´ in sports-inactive boys (2.61) (Figure 20).
Figure 20.
Happiness: Partial statements and overall factor in sports-active boys, sports-inactive boys, sports-active girls and sports-inactive girls.
Comparing each sample to other samples in the overall happiness factor, we found several statistically significant differences: between sports-active boys and sports-inactive boys (U = 389.5, p < .001) in favour of sports-active boys; between sports-active boys and sports-active girls (U = 1070.5, p = .007) in favour of sports-active boys; between sports-active boys and sports-inactive girls (U = 614.5, p < .001) in favour of sports-active boys; between sports-inactive boys and sports-active girls (U = 746, p < .001) in favour of sports-active girls; between sports-active girls and sports-inactive girls (U = 940.5, p < .001) in favour of sports-active girls. No statistical significance in the overall happiness factor of EPOCH measure of adolescent well-being was found only in the comparison between sports-inactive boys and sports-inactive girls.
Who feels the strongest feelings of happiness from the research samples? In first place are sports-active boys, in second place are sports-active girls, in third place are boys, in fourth place are girls, in fifth place are sports-inactive boys and in the last, sixth place are sports-inactive girls (Figure 21).
Figure 21.
H: Happiness in EPOCH for each sample from the research.
Taking into consideration the frequency of sports activity per week and the feelings of happiness regardless of gender and mode of sports activity (Table 8), we found that the happiest people are those people whose sports activities represent frequency six times a week.
Sporting activity frequency
Score
Standard deviation
six times a week
4375
.158
four times a week
41,771
.990
seven times a week
4
.559
three times a week
38,424
.746
once
37,589
.661
five times a week
34,444
.829
twice a week
31,774
.878
0
26,576
1.032
Table 8.
Ranking based on the frequency of sports activity per week and the achieved score for feeling happiness.
Statistical significance was recorded between all possible comparisons that could have been performed from no sporting activity (0) to performing sporting activities seven times a week.
3.6 Overall well-being
Participation in sporting activity as a variable of the higher level of psychological well-being is consistent with the authors [41, 42].
3.6.1 Comparison of overall well-being in boys and girls
We found two statistically significant differences in comparison between overall engagement factors, overall perseverance factor, overall optimism factor, overall connectedness factor and overall happiness factor in boys and girls (Figure 22). The significant differences are in the overall optimism factor (U = 3852.5, p < .001) in favour of boys, and in the overall connectedness factor (U = 4634.5, p = .010) in favour of girls.
Figure 22.
Overall factors from EPOCH in boys and girls.
3.6.2 Comparison of overall well-being in sports-active boys and sports-inactive boys
When comparing sports-active and sports-inactive girls, we found four statistical differences from the five overall factors from the EPOCH measure of adolescent well-being (Figure 23): perseverance (U = 748, p < .001), optimism (U = 832, p = .002), connectedness (U = 883, p = .007) and happiness (U = 389.5, p < .001). All comparisons are in favour of sports-active boys.
Figure 23.
Overall factors from EPOCH in sports-active boys and sports-inactive boys.
No statistically significant difference was found in the overall engagement factor.
3.6.3 Comparison of overall well-being in sports-active girls and sports-inactive girls
Sports-active girls with compared to sports-inactive achieved four statistically significant differences from five possible: engagement (U = 1265.5, p = .032), perseverance (U = 1258.5, p = .029), optimism (U = 1297, p = .048), happiness (U = 940.5, p < .001). All comparisons are in favour of sports-active girls (Figure 24).
Figure 24.
Overall factors from EPOCH in sports-active girls and sports-inactive girls.
No statistically significant difference was found in the overall connectedness factor, but the interesting thing is that sports-inactive girls scored higher in this connectedness factor compared to sports-active girls.
3.6.4 Comparison of overall well-being in sports-active and sports-inactive boys, and sports-active and sports-inactive girls
The comparison of the overall well-being from EPOCH showed statistical significance: between sports-active boys and sports-inactive boys (U = 662, p < .001) in favour of sports-active boys; between sports-active boys and sports-active girls (U = 1087, p = .009) in favour of sports-active boys; between sports-active boys and sports-inactive girls (U = 630.5, p < .001) in favour of sports-active boys; between sports-active girls and sports-inactive girls (U = 1134.5, p = .004) in favour of sports-active girls; between sports-active girls and sports-inactive boys (U 1064.5, p = .004) in favour of sports-active girls.
No statistical significance was found between sports-inactive girls and sports-inactive boys (Figure 25).
Figure 25.
Overall well-being from EPOCH in sports-active boys and girls, and sports-inactive boys and girls.
When counting all mentioned comparisons from this research, we found that out of 41 possible comparisons, the sports-active boys obtained statistical significance in the differences of these comparisons in up to 34, which represents 82.93% of that (Table 9). In these comparisons, sports-active girls obtained statistical significance in 26 cases, which represents 63.42% of that. Sports-inactive boys along with sports-inactive girls obtained only 2.44% of statistically significant differences from possible comparisons. In the overall acquisition of statistically significant differences in comparison, 54.84% obtained sports-active boys, 41.94% sports-active girls and 3.22% sports-inactive boys and girls.
Samples
Number of comparisons in partial statements and the overall factors of EPOCH
Statistical significance in favour of the sample
Sports-active boys
41
34
Sports-inactive boys
41
1
Sports-active girls
41
26
Sports-inactive girls
41
1
Table 9.
Number of comparisons and the statistical significance obtained.
This study examined the well-being and feelings of happiness in boys and girls, in sports-active boys and girls and sports-inactive boys and girls. It is very important to measure feelings by focusing on positive feelings.
Emotional well-being was discussed by [43], and there were higher scores for positive emotions than for negative emotions. One of the contributing factors to positive emotions and feelings of happiness is physical activity and sport.
Subjective well-being and engagement in sport are the content of an article [44]. They found very similar results to our results.
Investigation of the effects of sports participation on young adolescents´ emotional well-being of feelings and well-being presented [45]. Their findings gave evidence that greater participation in sports is positively associated with emotional well-being and presented that exercise and sport link with psychological health. The findings [46] supported the statement that physical activity can have long-term effects on well-being. Greater participation in sports was associated with higher odds of happiness and lower odds of socio-emotional difficulties in the study of [47].
All EPOCH factors were related to greater life satisfaction and less depression [28], more optimism, connectedness and happiness than engagement or perseverance. The next result of the research of the authors is that physical activity was more strongly related to perseverance, optimism and happiness than to engagement and connectedness. In several samples of their research, the connectedness, optimism and happiness factors were very strongly correlated with one and another and finally as positive sociability factors. The findings [8] resulted in outcomes, which are statistically significant that sporting activity has a more positive impact on subjective dimensions of quality of life in adolescent sports-active boys and girls than in adolescent sports-inactive boys and girls.
The decrease in physical activity during the last time in period of the COVID-19 pandemic brought evidence that the lack of sporting activities was mainly represented by activities related to outdoor sports (outdoor exercising, swimming in the pool, downhill skiing), exercising in a fitness centre or playing sports games, where the presence of other players is required (football in men and volleyball in women) [10]. In the review [48], happiness is regarded as a correlate of genetic determinants (genes, personality), circumstantial and demographic factors (gender, age, intelligence, wealth, religion, societal condition, health) and individual control (social relationship, marriage and children, leisure, goals). We also as Refs. [49, 50] get the result that boys are more optimistic than girls. The results [51] indicated that participation in recreational physical activity is positively associated with well-being during adolescence. Young people who participated in any recreational physical activity are more likely to have better well-being and there appeared to be an additional benefit for each additional hour of participation [51]. However, their findings suggest that organised sports participation was even more strongly associated with the outcomes of well-being in adolescence.
In summary, participation in organised sports appears to offer a unique benefit to well-being above and beyond participation in other recreational physical activities. Therefore, while quality experiences of recreational physical activity are evidently beneficial for well-being, promoting participation in organised sports can offer greater value to those who are already active [51].
The results of Ref. [52] from the EPOCH questionnaire used showed that most of the developmental assets experienced by Iranian female adolescents were in the moderate range and the overall scores of subjective well-being were in the good range.
The focus on well-being and happiness is also growing in the research of experts in psychology, education, sociology and philosophy. In the discussion, we can present the question by Deleuze [53] ´Is pleasure the filling of a lack, or the perfection of an activity?´ We all know that physical activity and sports sometimes hurt and here we can join next Deleuze’s idea that one must suffer for a while because happiness without suffering is inherent. A little pain for a happy life is only a very small price that one should pay. In many cases, exercise is overcoming certain feelings that are related to the inadequacy of some not adapted organs of the body that participate in the movement. But the feeling of mastering the exercise brings the emotion of happiness and mastering the exercise even with certain obstacles ultimately gradually causes the body and its organs to adapt to such movement. And as philosopher [54] wrote that ´Happiness is the feeling that power increases – that resistance is being overcome´, and that is exactly how we described suffering by exercising. The same author [55] in his book argued that happiness is not found by default but is achieved as the result of hard work. Nietzsche was aware of the theme of happiness in his works and thoughts [54, 55, 56]. We should bear in mind as Nietzsche that happiness is made of moments not years, there in life are happy moments but not happy ages. If we are happy all the time, the feelings of happiness would lose their value that’s why we need to have also obstacles to be overcome so that our power can increase. Exercising and sports can increase our inner power not only our muscle strength. Exercising and sports can increase our happiness and well-being. The evidence is in this study.
Physical activity and sports are irreplaceable activities for young people. Particularly after the period of the COVID-19 pandemic, when physical activity decreased, because physical education in school was mostly not taught online and also because there was a curfew and businesses that provided physical activities and sports were closed. Participation in physical activities and sports is closely related to well-being and feelings of happiness, as shown by our findings, where sports-active boys were statistically significantly happier than sports-inactive boys, and also sports-active girls were happier than sports-inactive girls also on the significance level. The happiest were those who exercised six times a week.
5.1 Limitations of the study
For this research and data collection, we investigated overall well-being among adolescents on the basis of the EPOCH measure for adolescent well-being we divided into research samples: boys and girls, sports-active boys and sports-inactive boys, sports-active girls and sports-inactive girls without other socio-demographic variables and physical developmental attributes. It is necessary to carry out further such research and also by the larger number of members of the research sample.
Practical implications
A practical implication of our findings is that people nevertheless, male or female, both can benefit in overall well-being and feelings of happiness when they will participate in sporting activities not only as a member of some sports clubs but also as the person who decides to take a part in any sports activity, even spontaneous and the best occurrence of sporting activities in a week for the best feeling of well-being and happiness is the occurrence six times in a week.
Both authors have made a substantial direct and intellectual contribution to the work and approved it for publication.
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Written By
Janka Peráčková and Pavol Peráček
Submitted: 24 October 2022Reviewed: 09 November 2022Published: 22 December 2022
Open access peer-reviewed chapter
