Impact of sports activity on Polish adults: Self-reported health, social capital & attitudes

Abstract

The aim of our study was a quasi-experimental estimation of the relationship between sports activity and social capital, and an assessment made at an individual level of the impact of sports activity on health, beliefs and the social situation of Polish adults. Matching estimation method and Social Diagnosis data were used. The dataset enables not only an analysis of the self-reported health, but also of social capital. The panel structure of the data and the applied method allow for stratifying the sample using past characteristics, including past sports activity, as well as for assessing outcomes after the treatment—engaging in sports activity—takes place. Both allow for an interpretation of the results as reflections of a causal relationship. Even though publications applying matching estimation or IV estimation to assess the impact of sports activity have recently been increasing in number, ours is the first to concentrate on the effects on multidimensional social capital for adults using panel data and matching estimation. It is also the first to focus on a country that is neither one of the most developed in the world or one of the least developed. The results obtained suggest significant heterogeneity in terms of age, gender and place of living. We also found that sports contributed to building social networks and being socially active. Our research indicates that sports activity enhances social health. It can be used as a tool for a policy of social activation and strengthening the health potential of adults, especially those over 40.

Leisure-Time Physical Activity Participation Trends 2014–2018: A Cross-Sectional Study in Poland

“…On the other hand, this may suggest that the positive pro-health influence of regular PA is more visible among men. Of course, these deliberations are hypothetical (although not diverging from the most modern Polish evidence) [51]. This fact may be a negation of numerous past reports, according to which the pro-health motive is the factor that increases the frequency of practicing sport, especially among women [46] (more rarely among men) [45].…”

Do Sports Clubs Contribute to the Accumulation of Regional Social Capital?

“…Downward et al [20], using multinational, individual, cross-sectional dataset and instrumental variables (IV) estimation, claim that while generalised trust is positively correlated to club membership, the causal relation from the latter to the former is not confirmed. Skrok et al [21] using individual, longitudinal data on adults in Poland and matching estimation, argue that, while no indication of impact on generalised trust can be identified, sports activity can positively influence size and depth of social networks, as well as propensity to engage in pro-social activities and associational behaviour. Finally, Di Bartolomeo and Pappa show, using an experimental design, that even short involvement in exercise can lead to decisions reflecting greater trust and prosocial behaviour [22].…”

“…Such SC presence in the structures of sports participation seems to be of key importance for the existence and continuation of these communities [23] and for members to remain in an organisation and continue their activity, including physical activity [15]. It can also, as Skrok et al [21] or Eime et al [24] say, provoke attitudes and behaviours that will favour SC. For example, according to Harvey et al [15] staying in active sports communities can encourage their members to remain physically active and reap the psychological benefits of membership.…”

“…As shown, however, most of them concern studies on children [18,19] or adolescents [17], only two studies conducted causal analysis on a dataset on adults [20,21]. The second issue is that it is not shown that SA leads to improvement in all measures, including generalized trust [20,21] but rather a tendency to establish relationships with other people [17,[19][20][21] or engage in association behaviour or pro-social activities [17,21]. The third issue is that, so far, the majority of the research has been conducted in Western European and North American countries or developing countries.…”

“…Limited publications concerning Poland have been published in non-English-speaking journals in recent years [26,27] and only a few works reporting Eastern countries were in English [28,29]. Lastly, most of the recently published results allowing for causal interpretation, are based on analysis of the individual data [17,[19][20][21]. Though offering methodological advantages over aggregated data, which allow for the use of advanced estimation techniques, in particular the ones aiming at appraisal of causality, they have a drawback of not allowing us to analyse impact on the societal level.…”