Table 3 Longitudinal associations of examined characteristics of sports participation with externalizing problems (N = 487)

Sports participation

Nonathletes

Reference

Reference

Membership sports club

−0.22

0.44

−0.77 - 0.33

− 0.30

0.28

− 0.86 - 0.25

Frequency of sports participation

High sports actives

Reference

Reference

Moderate sports actives

−0.10

0.67

−0.57 - 0.37

− 0.09

0.72

− 0.56 - 0.39

Low sports actives

−0.04

0.88

−0.54 - 0.47

−0.02

0.94

−0.53 - 0.49

Nonathletes

0.17

0.62

−0.49 - 0.82

0.27

0.43

−0.39 - 0.93

Individual versus team sports

Individual sports

Reference

Reference

Team sports

0.03

0.91

−0.50 - 0.56

−0.04

0.87

−0.59 - 0.50

Individual as well as team sports

0.10

0.75

−0.53 - 0.74

−0.10

0.77

−0.79 - 0.59

Nonathletes

0.25

0.45

−0.39 - 0.89

0.48

0.20

−0.25- 1.21

Indoor versus outdoor sports

Indoor sports

Reference

Reference

Outdoor sports

−0.21

0.42

0.73–0.30

−0.34

0.23

−0.88 - 0.21

Indoor as well as outdoor sports

0.19

0.59

−0.50 - 0.88

0.02

0.96

−0.72 - 0.75

Nonathletes

0.14

0.66

−0.48 - 0.76

0.35

0.33

−0.35 – 1.05

Contact versus non-contact sports

Non-contact sports

Reference

Reference

Contact sports

0.16

0.53

−0.34 - 0.69

0.11

0.70

−0.46 - 0.69

Non-Contact as well as contact sports

0.47

0.17

−0.21 - 1.15

0.31

0.42

−0.46 - 1.08

Nonathletes

0.33

0.29

−0.27 - 0.93

0.48

0.17

−0.21 - 1.18

Involvement in competition or not

Competition

Reference

Reference

Training activities

0.21

0.41

−0.29 - 0.70

0.47

0.10

−0.10 - 1.04

Nonathletes

0.29

0.32

−0.29 - 0.87

0.85

0.04*

0.06–1.64