The practice of basketball as a protective factor for emotional and mental health in university contexts

Abstract

Objective: The study aims to identify the impact of sports practice on the emotional health of students at Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas. Hypothesis: It is proposed that frequent sports practice enhances cognitive emotion regulation, acting as a protective factor for mental health in a university environment. Method: This study employs a mixed-methods approach, combining qualitative and quantitative data. The study sample includes 51 university students aged between 17 and 25, from various disciplines. The measurement instrument used was the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ), Garnefski, 2001, administered online. Results: The data indicate that while sports have benefits for emotional health, they are not the determining component for adaptive emotional regulation. Sedentary women revealed a greater use of adaptive strategies compared to active women. The data reveal high variability in the use of emotional regulation strategies among men, both athletes and non-athletes, with a significant tendency toward the use of less adaptive strategies. Conclusions: The data analysis challenges the hypothesis that sports practice improves cognitive emotion regulation among university students, suggesting that other variables may play a more determinant role in emotional health. These findings confirm that sports practice acts as a supportive factor for mental health in university students, as the lack of sports activity may be associated with a higher tendency toward thought patterns unfavorable to emotional health.