Effects of a 12-Week Football Intervention on Mental Health and Psychological Resilience in Secondary School Students

This study examines the effect of football participation on the mental health of secondary school students and provides empirical evidence for integrating physical education into school-based mental health intervention. A total of 80 students from No.2 middle school in Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, were randomly assigned to an experimental group (n = 40) and a control group (n = 40). The experimental group participated in a 12-week football training program (three sessions per week, 60–80 minutes each), while the control group received regular physical education classes. Mental health status was assessed using the Symptom Checklist-90 (SCL-90) before and after the intervention. Paired-sample t-tests and independent-sample t-tests were used for statistical analysis. The results indicated no significant differences between the groups prior to intervention (P > 0.05). However, post-intervention results showed that the experimental group demonstrated significantly lower scores in obsessive-compulsive symptoms, depression, anxiety, interpersonal sensitivity, hostility, phobic anxiety, and total SCL-90 score compared to the control group (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01). No significant changes were found in the control group. These findings suggest that football, as a socially interactive and emotionally engaging team sport, effectively promotes mental well-being by enhancing self-esteem, emotional regulation, peer support, and psychological resilience. This study highlights the value of football-based interventions in school mental health education and offers a feasible model for the integration of “physical activity + psychological support”.

Football; Adolescents; Mental health; Intervention

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