Impact of Sports on Rural Girls' Wellbeing: A Study

This research proposal outlines a longitudinal study designed to investigate the effects of sports participation on the psycho-social development and overall wellbeing of rural girls in India. The study aims to explore the impact of sports on mental and physical health, sense of accomplishment, personal identity, and self-perception. The introduction highlights the poor health outcomes prevalent in rural areas and the potential benefits of sports participation. The literature review supports the research by examining existing studies on the positive effects of sports. The research methodology includes a longitudinal design with repeated observations over time, sample selection, data collection methods, and statistical analysis. The expected outcomes and timeline for the study are also provided. The study seeks to determine the impact of sports on rural girls' wellbeing, which is critical given the existing health disparities and the potential for sports to promote positive health outcomes.

Running head: RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Impact of sports on psycho-social development and wellbeing of rural girls: a longitudinal
study
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

1RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Executive summary
A considerable number of children and adolescents worldwide report the presence of poor
psychosocial health complications, which frequently endure into adulthood. Less
internalizing difficulties, less externalizing difficulties and improved prosocial performance
imitates enhanced psychosocial health. People living in rural regions report poor health
outcomes, which in turn can also be contributed to low socio-economic conditions. One of
the major persuasive factors is sports participation. Several research conducted in children,
adults, and adolescents show that participation in sports create favourable psychosocial health
consequences, nonetheless particulars about the association between sports participation and
rural psychosocial health is not adequate. The report contains a proposal for a longitudinal
study on the same phenomenon.

2RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Research aim..........................................................................................................................3
Research objective.................................................................................................................4
Research hypothesis...............................................................................................................4
Significance of the research...................................................................................................5
Literature review........................................................................................................................6
Research methodology...............................................................................................................8
Research approach.................................................................................................................8
Sample selection.....................................................................................................................9
Data collection.....................................................................................................................10
Statistical analysis................................................................................................................10
Expected outcomes...................................................................................................................11
Timeline...................................................................................................................................11
References................................................................................................................................12

3RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Introduction
Although India had been the first nation since antiquity that provided national health
care as a uniform right to all its citizens, in the current scenario the rural health care of India
has been found to face severe crisis, which is unparalleled to other social sectors. As much as
86% of the entire proportion of medical visits that occur in India are comprised by the rural
regions (Singh and Badaya 2014). In addition, the majority of the rural inhabitants of the
nation have to travel for more than roughly 100 km, with the aim of gaining access to
necessary health care amenities, of which an estimated 70-80% is attributed to out of pocket
expenses that subsequently leads to poverty. There is mounting evidence for the fact that
several people living in rural and remote locations suffer from a plethora of psychosocial
issues that often progress to adulthood and directly worsen the overall health and wellbeing
of the affected individuals (Hirve et al. 2015). In addition, living conditions have also been
identified to create a direct effect on public wellbeing. One of the major challenges that are
faced by rural communities include the multitude of health hazards that they are subjected to,
due to poor socioeconomic conditions (Xu et al. 2015).
Some of the basic characteristics of the living conditions in rural regions of India
encompass namely, poor ventilation, decrepit and derelict housing edifices, serious over-
crowding, water logging, scarcity of safe and clean drinking water, non-availability of
medical and social services, and lack of lavatory facilities (Bain et al. 2014). Taking into
consideration the fact that psychosocial health encompasses several dimensions that are
spiritual, social and emotional, and enhancement of psychosocial health in the rural
population of India would help in bringing about an improvement of the overall health and
wellbeing, thus reducing the disease burden in the vulnerable population.

4RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Research aim
To explore the effects of sports on psycho-sociological development and wellbeing of
rural girls.
Research objective
 To determine the effect of sports on mental health of rural girls
 To determine the effect of sports on physical health of rural girls
 To explore the effect of sports on sense of accomplishment among rural girls
 To explore the effects of sports on personal identity and self-perception among rural
girls
Research hypothesis
 H01- There will be no noteworthy enhancement with regards to mental health among
rural girls due to participation in sports
 H02- There will be no significant improvement in physical health status rural girls
due to participation in sports
 H03- There will be no noteworthy enhancement in sense of accomplishment among
rural girls due to participation in sports
 H04- There will be no significant improvement with regards to self-perception and
personal identity among rural girls due to participation in sports
 H1- There will be significant enhancement with regards to mental health among rural
girls due to participation in sports
 H2- There will be noteworthy improvement in physical health status rural girls due to
participation in sports
 H3- There will be noteworthy enhancement in sense of accomplishment among rural
girls due to participation in sports

5RESEARCH PROPOSAL
 H4- There will be significant improvement with regards to self-perception and
personal identity among rural girls due to participation in sports
Significance of the research
The effects of sports has been established by Vella et al. (2014) who stated that
following participation of children in sports activities, an increase was observed in their
health related quality of life (HRQoL), in contrast to those who did not participate in such
activities (P ≤ .001). In addition, it was also found that sports participation created maximum
impact on girls (P < .05; Eta2 = .003). The same had been affirmed by Basterfield et al.
(2015) who found that sports participation was meaningfully related with general
accelerometer-measured levels of physical activity, in addition to a reduction in fat mass,
thereby enhancing the overall health and wellbeing. Furthermore, there is mounting evidence
for the fact that variances in sports participation patterns is largely dependent on the
residential location. An improvement in socio-economic status and remoteness was also
correlated with increased participation in physical activity, thus highlighting the need of
exploring the effect of sports participation on rural girls in India (Eime et al. 2015).
Meyer et al. (2014) has also elaborated on the fact that poor socioeconomic conditions
are related with greater concerns regarding neighbourhood safety and is negatively related
with levels and frequency of physical activity among people. In addition, poor levels of
physical activity results in a deterioration of mental health and self-rated health (SRH) among
the people. Furthermore, Stone et al. (2014) elaborated on the importance of children’s
independent mobility (CIM), in relation to healthy childhood development. Positive physical
activity behaviour were demonstrated among children who manifested more independent
mobility, thus highlighting the necessity of mobility. This calls for the need of conducting a
longitudinal investigation to explore the effects of sports participation on the health and
wellbeing of rural girls in India.

6RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Literature review
In the words of Jacob (2014) overweight and obesity were highly prevalent among
children who were living in rural regions of Kerala, thus highlighting the negative impact that
it creates on their quality of life and wellbeing. Hills, Dengel and Lubans (2015) have
elaborated on the fact that participation in physical education activities provides a range of
psychosocial and physiological benefits of people and also helps increasing adherence to
numerous lifestyle changes. Furthermore, Van Hoye et al. (2015) opined that participation in
sports acted as an impartially health promoting behaviour, in addition to the fact that health
promotion was considered as a major objective of sports clubs by coaches, and also helped in
enhancing self-determined motivation. Findings from another cross-sectional study also
suggested that retirement of professional soccer players from their sports career lead to an
increase in rates of obesity and overweight symptoms, in addition to the drug infiltration in
the knees. Furthermore, refraining themselves from participation in sports also increased the
prevalence of knee pain, thereby suggesting a correlation between sports participation and
health outcomes (Arliani et al. 2014).
Oja et al. (2015) opined that running and participation in sports activities were
responsible for increasing cardiovascular function and aerobic fitness at rest, besides
lowering adiposity. They also elaborated on conditional evidence on the fact that running
enhances metabolic fitness, postural balance, and muscular performance. It has also been
found that girls display an increased likelihood of reporting concerns related to increased
weight, body image and self-reported impairment in health, when compared to their male
counterparts. It has also been found that participation in physical exercise was positively
correlated with self-reports on improvement in health outcomes (Dyremyhr, Diaz and Meland
2014). In the words of Wiens, Kyngäs and Pölkki (2014) four major categories of wellbeing

7RESEARCH PROPOSAL
as identified by girls were namely, (i) health in the form of resource, (ii) positive life course
related experiences, (iii) beneficial lifestyle, and (iv) constructive social relationships.
Furthermore, Jewett et al. (2014) opined that participation in school based sports
activities often protected adolescents from poor mental health and enhanced their overall
health related quality of life, thus elaborating on the impact of sports in reducing perceived
stress, depression symptoms, and self-perceptions. Time and again it has also been
established that physical inactivity is one of the major public health concerns in
contemporary times (Trost, Blair and Khan 2014). It has also been proposed by Badura et al.
(2015) that organised sports activity participation among children results in enhanced self-
rated health status and also increases life satisfaction, regardless of the age or gender of the
participants. In addition, sports participation also helped in reducing the frequency of health
complaints. It has also been stated by Caddick and Smith (2014) that physical activity and
sports enhances the health and subjective wellbeing among veterans through the process of
coping. In addition, sports activities have also been allied with a reduction in PTSD
symptoms, besides increasing positive affective experience, and enhancing the quality of life.
It has been stated by Smith et al. (2014) greater muscular fitness among individuals is
inversely associated with central and total adiposity, and other metabolic risk factors. Hence,
the findings highlight the fact that participation in sports based activities increases muscular
fitness among individuals and also enhances the health-related benefits. Ruseski et al. (2014)
conducted a population survey and also stated that sports participation is positively associated
with happiness and wellbeing among participants. On the other hand, findings from a
systematic review indicated that participation in Chinese sports activities reduced the risks of
suffering from metabolic syndrome, lowered levels of cholesterol, triglycerides, low-density
lipoprotein cholesterol, and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol in the bloodstream. In

8RESEARCH PROPOSAL
addition, physical activities that encompassed Tai Ji Quan training demonstrated a significant
improvement on the quality of life and mental health amid older adults (Guo et al. 2016).
In the words of Sahlin and Lexell (2015) self-concept scores reported by adolescents
and children suffering from disability who engaged in physical activity, were parallel to the
scores of able-bodied athletes. Sports involvement was found to substantially increase life
satisfaction, decrease depression, reduce anxiety, and increase the opportunities for profitable
employment, when compared to their nonathletic counterparts. On valuing and quantifying
the wellbeing effects of sports and culture, Fujiwara, Kudrna and Dolan (2014) found that
sports created a significant impact on life satisfaction among the participants, regardless of
their age and/or gender. The same was affirmed by Paton (2016) who provided evidence for
the effects of corporate sports, in relation to boosting engagement of employees, and
enhancing their overall wellbeing. Thus, there are several pieces of scholarly evidences that
have elaborated on the positive impacts that sports creates on the health outcomes and quality
of life of people. However, despite the existing evidences for poor health outcomes in remote
and rural communities, no research specifically targeted the impacts that sports participation
will exert on the rural population. This calls for the need of exploring the impact of sports on
psycho-social development and wellbeing of rural girls in India.
Research methodology
Research approach
The research will be based on a longitudinal design that will encompass repeated
observation of similar variables over a definite period of time. This research is primarily an
observational study and is generally used for determining rapid fluctuations in thoughts,
conduct, and behaviours, within a pre-determined duration. Conduction of a longitudinal
study will facilitate gaining a sound understanding of the developmental trends among girls

9RESEARCH PROPOSAL
living in rural communities, in relation to their health and wellbeing. Unlike cross-sectional
research studies, in which dissimilar individuals with identical physiognomies are associated,
longitudinal studies place an emphasis on similar persons, thus the variances observed in
those individuals are less expected to be the consequence of cultural dissimilarities across
cohorts. Hence, conducting a longitudinal study will make detecting changes more precise.
Sample selection
Selection of participants for the research would involve the procedure of convenience
sampling. This sampling technique is based on selecting prospective study participants based
on their convenience and proximity from the researchers. The officials of two secondary girl
schools present in the district will be contacted by telephone and in person. The
administrators will also be provided a sealed envelope containing detailed information about
the purpose of research. Following obtaining permission from the authorities, written
information will be disseminated across the two schools about the potential implication and
practical development of the research to all guardians and parents of children. An estimated
30 girl students will be recruited as subjects, with their age group ranging between 9-11
years. Randomisation process will be followed for including them, in order to ensure that all
of them have the equal opportunity of getting enrolled in the sample. Voluntary consent will
also be obtained from the parent or guardian for participation of their children in the research.
The criteria for including prospective subjects will be as follows:
 Girls who have residence in the rural district
 Girls who have BMI between 25-29.9
 Girls who are expected to remain till final assessment of the findings

10RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Data collection
The participating girls will be assessed for three consecutive years namely at baseline
(9), 10 and 11 years of age, for collection of data. The girls will be asked to report on their
participation in sports using the Move and Sports Monitor Questionnaire-Youth
Aged (MSMQ) questionnaire that will help in measuring their sports activities during the
three year duration. Measurement of psychosocial health using the Strengths and Difficulties
Questionnaire (SDQ) will form another major outcome. In addition, several covariates
namely, household composition, body mass index (BMI), and socioeconomic status will be
analysed. Another important covariate will be the frequency of participation in sports
activities for determining the association between psychosocial health and diverse types of
sports (team versus individual sports, outdoor versus indoor sports, non-contact versus
contact sports and competition). This step will ensure eliminating risks of discovering
unauthentic associations or overlooking imperative relations.
Statistical analysis
Girls who are not able to provide responses to one or more questions that are related
to participation in sports, MSMQ, SES, household composition, or BMI, will be eliminated
from the longitudinal study. The SPSS version 21.0 software will be used for statistically
analysing the responses to the questionnaires, and the demographic covariates. In addition, a
linear mixed model will also be used for determining the association between sports
participation characteristics and the subsequent psychosocial health (externalizing problems,
internalizing problems, and prosocial behaviour) among the participants. A visual
examination of histogram will also be conducted for assessing the normality of the outcome
distribution. Sex, household composition, BMI, SES and sports participation frequency will
also be adjusted.

11RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Expected outcomes
It is estimated that increased frequency of participation in sport over the three years
span, participation in outdoor sports activities, performing contact sports, and engaging in
sports competitions will show a longitudinal association with lesser internalising problems
among the girls. Increased frequency of participation in sports will also be related with
presence of BMI between 18.5-24.9. It is also expected that membership of the enrolled girls
in the sports clubs at their school will also show a positive longitudinal association with
enhanced prosocial behaviour.
Timeline

12RESEARCH PROPOSAL
References
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remoteness. BMC public health, 15(1), p.434.

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Fujiwara, D., Kudrna, L. and Dolan, P., 2014. Quantifying and valuing the wellbeing impacts
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