SPORTS PARTICIPATION AND ITS INFLUENCE ON LEADERSHIP SKILLS AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AMONG STUDENT-ATHLETES: A META-ANALYSIS
Keywords:
Sports Participation, Student-Athletes, Leadership Development, Social Competence, Meta-AnalysisAbstract
Sports participation is widely recognized as a fundamental component of holistic youth development that fosters essential life skills, psychological resilience, and socio-emotional maturation. This meta-analysis quantitatively synthesizes existing empirical research published between 2015 and 2025 to determine the overall effect of sports participation on leadership skills and social development outcomes among student-athletes. Strictly adhering to PRISMA 2020 guidelines, 48 eligible studies comprising 24,530 student-athletes across multiple geographic regions were included in the quantitative meta-synthesis. Data were analyzed utilizing random-effects models, subgroup analyses, and meta-regression. Athletic engagement yielded a statistically significant, medium positive effect on leadership skills (Hedges’ g = 0.58, p < .001) and a robust medium-to-large positive effect on social development outcomes (Hedges’ g = 0.65, p < .001). Furthermore, moderator analyses revealed that team sports and collegiate-level participation generated significantly higher developmental gains compared to individual sports and high school-level engagement. Sports participation serves as a formidable and structurally sound mechanism for cultivating leadership and social competencies, empirically validating Positive Youth Development, Social Learning, and Experiential Learning theories. Educational institutions should prioritize and optimize athletic departments as premier academies for socio-emotional learning.
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