Impact of Football Sports Participation on Generalized Anxiety Disorder and General Procrastination among Undergraduate Male Students

Abstract

Aim of the Study: General procrastination and Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) are two influential variables that might impact significantly on the lives of students. However, probable interventions and non-pharmaceutical treatments are yet to be discovered that might break the association between general procrastination and GAD.

Methodology: To address this specific research gap, we selected 180 university students (M = 21.74, SD = 1.66), among which 90 were varsity football players (M = 21.92, SD = 1.63) and 90 were non-athletes (M = 21.56, SD = 1.69). The participants were selected through a convenient sampling technique). A self-administered demographic section, GAD-2, and GPS-9 were used for the gathering of data.

Findings: The t-test results showed that GAD and general procrastination were significantly lower among male varsity football players as compared to varsity non-athlete students. Additionally, regression analysis showed a strong positive association between elevated GAD and higher procrastination levels among male varsity non-athlete students as compared to male varsity football players who showed no significant relationship among both variables.

Conclusion: The findings conclude that sports participation, particularly football sports, positively mitigates GAD and general procrastination, thus improving the overall mental health of university students.