Team sports participation, depression, and suicidal ideation in lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning adolescents

Rates of depression and suicide are rising in adolescents, with lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) youth experiencing higher rates. We examined the relationship between team sports participation, depression, and suicidal ideation among a representative sample of adolescents (n = 46,537) in the Healthy Kids Colorado Survey. Logistic regression models using team sports participation to predict depression and suicidal ideation for heterosexual; lesbian, gay, bisexual, and questioning (LGBQ); cisgender; and transgender youth demonstrated that team sports participation was associated with reduced likelihood of depression in all groups and reduced likelihood of suicidal ideation in all groups except for LGBQ youth. These findings indicate that LGBTQ youth may experience similar mental health benefits of team sports participation as heterosexual and cisgender youth, supporting the importance of inclusive sports policy and programming.