Potential of sport and physical activity in academic resilience of university students

Resilience is universally recognized as a strength or asset, representing a desirable and beneficial quality, trait, or process with the potential to positively influence various aspects of an individual's performance, achievement, health, and well-being. This concept holds particular significance in the context of sports. A cross-sectional research was used in this study with efforts to find out whether there are differences in resilience levels among students based on their sports participation and to determine potential socio-demographic factors contributing to academic resilience. The study involved 379 students from several state universities in the Republic of Serbia (76.0% female and 24.0% male), aged 18 to 30 years (M = 21.67 ± 1.98). The Academic Resilience Scale (ARS) was used in the study, as well as a specific questionnaire for the purpose of this research, which contained inquiries about sociodemographic data of respondents and sport engagement. Results indicated that students engaged in sports show greater levels of academic resilience but there were no significant differences among students engaged in different type of sports (individual/group). The average grade of students was statistically significantly correlated with academic resilience levels. These results emphasize the importance of encouraging sports participation among students as a means to enhance both resilience and academic performance.