Martial arts and mental health : The experiences of Australian adolescents who participate in taekwondo

The practice of martial arts is a popular form of physical activity globally, including in Australia. It is ranked among the top 10 physical activities and sports for children and adolescents aged 5 to 14 years old, and among the top 15 for people aged 15 and above. Notably, participation among Australian children and adolescents steadily increased from 6.1% in 2006 to 7.8% in 2012 (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2012, 2015). While previous studies have generally acknowledged evidence of improved mental health associated with martial arts, the findings remain inconclusive. Gubbels et al. (2015) conducted a meta-analysis of 12 studies on martial arts and externalising behaviours and suggested that previous studies might have underestimated the effects of martial arts on promoting aggression, anger, and hostility. The meta-analysis showed that after accounting for possible publication bias, a positive correlation was found between martial arts practice and externalising behaviours. This implied that instead of reducing externalising behaviour, martial arts practice increased externalising behaviours. Another systematic review of nine studies by Lafuente et al. (2021) on the effects of martial arts and combat sports on anger and aggression also found that martial art practice affects different age groups differently, with adults showing a reduction in anger levels, while the children and adolescents demonstrated an increase in anger. Given the popularity of martial arts and importance of adolescents’ mental health and wellbeing, this thesis aims to address gaps in the literature by exploring how martial arts practices influence the mental health and wellbeing of Australian adolescents.

In this thesis, mental health and wellbeing is defined as the state of emotional, psychological, and social wellbeing. The scope of this thesis focuses exclusively on the Korean martial art of Taekwondo (TKD) due to its global popularity and status as a full medal Olympic sport discipline. A pragmatic research philosophy guided this thesis, which included a systematic review offering a comprehensive review of the effects of East Asian martial arts which are also practiced as a sport, such as Judo, Karate and TKD, on the mental health and wellbeing of children and adolescents. The findings from the systematic review shaped the subsequent cross-sectional study using a convergent mixed methods research design (Creswell & Creswell, 2018) to explore the effects of TKD on the mental health and wellbeing of the Australian adolescents.

The systematic review highlighted mixed findings regarding the effects of East Asian martial arts on mental health and wellbeing and emphasised the need for explicit contextual information regarding the martial activities. The subsequent mixed method study specifically focused on TKD, investigating the motives and motivations behind its practice. This study included an online questionnaire, incorporating items from the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) and the Mental Health Continuum Short Form (MHC-SF) to assess the mental health and wellbeing of the Australian adolescents practising TKD. Additionally, qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted with Australian adolescents practising TKD to gain a deeper understanding of how their lived experiences in TKD influenced their mental health and wellbeing.

The results and findings of this thesis revealed that Australian adolescents were intrinsically motivated in their practice of TKD. The most commonly cited motivational factors from the quantitative results revolved around developing self-defence skills (88.9%), improving physical health (85.2%), and be healthier (77.8%), while the sense of belonging at the dojangs, improving physical health and fun and enjoyment emerged as the dominant themes from the interviews.

The quantitative data collected were also compared with normative data for the general population of Australian adolescents and the inferential statistical analyses revealed no significant difference between the overall mental health and wellbeing between Australian adolescents practising TKD and the normative Australian adolescents, as measured by the total difficulties score from the SDQ (z = -0.54, p = .59). However, Australian adolescents practising TKD reported a significant lower level of conduct problems compared to the normative Australian adolescents (z = 2.22, p = .03). Follow-up gender specific analyses showed that male Australian adolescents practising TKD reported a significantly higher level of overall mental health and wellbeing compared to normative male Australian adolescents (z= 2.36, p = .02). In contrast, no significant difference was found between female Australian adolescents practising TKD and normative female Australian adolescents (z = -1.93, p = .05).

Additionally, there were no significant differences in mental health and wellbeing between Australian adolescents who started TKD on their own volition and those who started TKD under the will of their parents. Similarly, when using belt level as a proxy for TKD experience, no significant differences were observed in the mental health and wellbeing across different belt levels. However, significant gender differences were observed among Australian adolescents practising TKD. Male Australian adolescents practising TKD reported higher levels of emotional wellbeing (z = -2.29, p = .02), social wellbeing (z = -2.67, p = .008), psychological wellbeing (z = -2.68, p = .007), and overall mental health and wellbeing as measured by the total MHC-SF score (z = -2.77, p = .006) than female counterparts. Additionally, male Australian adolescents practising TKD reported better overall mental health and wellbeing based on total difficulties score (z = 3.32, p < .001), as well as lower levels of emotional (z = 3.23, p = .001), and hyperactivity problems (z = 2.34, p = .02) compared to females.

The thematic analysis of qualitative data collected from the interviews supported the utility of TKD in enhancing the mental health and wellbeing of Australian adolescents. The findings illustrated how the developmental nature of TKD contributes to the psychological wellbeing by fostering personal growth, providing a sense of purpose in life and identity as martial artists. The supportive community and training environment also played a significant role in enhancing their social wellbeing by providing a sense of belonging. Additionally, the enjoyment and fun experienced during practice were found to boost emotional wellbeing. In conclusion, this thesis reveals a positive association between TKD and mental health and wellbeing of Australian adolescents. Policymakers and parents are encouraged to consider promoting TKD as a complementary tool to support the mental health and wellbeing of young Australians.

This work © 2024 by Poh Huat Oh is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0).