Sports is one of the most popular youth activities, yet a consensus has not been reached as to whether playing sports facilitates or deters youths’ delinquency. This study uses longitudinal data on youths ages 12–15 to test the association between participation in noncontact (tennis, golf, track and field, swimming, volleyball), semi-contact (soccer, basketball, baseball/softball) and heavy contact (football, hockey, wrestling, lacrosse) sports, and juvenile delinquency. In models accounting for potential selection effects and a full array of confounding influences, playing semi- and noncontact sports is largely unrelated delinquency, whereas greater participation in heavy-contact sports is uniquely associated with increased commission of violent and property crimes in early adolescence. The theoretical and policy implications of these finding are briefly discussed.

体育是最受欢迎的青年活动之一，但关于运动是否促进或阻止青少年犯罪尚未达成共识。这项研究使用有关12至15岁青年的纵向数据来测试非接触（网球，高尔夫球，田径，游泳，排球），半接触（足球，篮球，棒球/垒球）和重度接触（足球）之间的关联。 ，曲棍球，摔跤，长曲棍球）运动和青少年犯罪。在考虑潜在选择效应和各种混杂影响的模型中，参加半接触式和非接触式运动很大程度上与犯罪无关，而更多地参与重度接触式运动与青春期初期暴力犯罪和财产犯罪的增加有着独特的联系。