54. Intervention study on the impact of basketball team psychological counseling on the treatment of bipolar disorder in adolescents

Abstract Background The treatment of bipolar disorder (BD) in adolescents currently faces two major challenges: high relapse rates and impaired social functioning. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop adjunctive interventions that can both stabilize mood and improve social functioning. As a team activity integrating physical exertion, collaboration, and structured rules, basketball offers unique characteristics—its structure, rhythm, and social interaction—that provide a distinct vehicle for emotional regulation and social functional rehabilitation. Group psychological counseling programs based on basketball can organically integrate physical activity with psychological techniques such as cognitive-behavioral therapy and social skills training. However, empirical research examining the impact of structured group sports like basketball on core symptoms and social functioning in adolescents with BD remains limited. Consequently, the study designed a standardized basketball group psychological counseling program, aiming to evaluate the intervention effect of basketball group psychological counseling on the emotional stability, social function and quality of life of adolescent BD patients. Methods The study first integrated exercise therapy with mindfulness-based cognitive therapy and teamwork principles to develop a standardized 12-week basketball group counseling program, conducted twice weekly. The program encompassed fundamental skills, team tactics, emotion awareness games, and post-game reflection discussions. The study recruited 64 adolescents diagnosed with bipolar disorder, randomly assigned to an intervention group (n = 32) and a control group (n = 32). The intervention group received standard medication combined with basketball-based group therapy, while the control group maintained standard medication and general health education. Mood symptoms were assessed using the Young Mania Rating Scale (YMRS) and Hamilton Depression Scale (HAMD) at baseline, post-intervention, and 3 months post-intervention. Social functioning was evaluated using the Global Assessment of Function (GAF) and Social Disability Screening Schedule (SDSS). Results Following the intervention, the experimental group demonstrated significant and sustained improvements in both emotional stability and social functioning. Regarding emotional symptoms, the experimental group's post-intervention YMRS total score (5.2 ± 3.1) and HAMD total score (9.8 ± 4.0) were significantly lower than those of the control group (8.7 ± 4.5; 15.3 ± 5.2) (p<.01). Regarding social functioning, the experimental group's GAF score (68.4 ± 6.7) was significantly higher than that of the control group (58.9 ± 8.1) (p<.01), while the experimental group's SDSS score (4.5 ± 2.3) was significantly lower than that of the control group (7.8 ± 3.0) (p<.01). Discussion Research indicates that a structured intervention combining basketball activities with group psychological counseling effectively complements pharmacological treatment, significantly improving emotional stability, social functioning, and quality of life in adolescents with bipolar disorder (BD). This approach demonstrates sustained long-term effects, offering a novel embodied and socialized non-pharmacological intervention strategy for adolescent BD rehabilitation. Future research should validate its efficacy in larger samples and across different disease stages (e.g., acute phase). Utilizing neuroimaging and physiological indicators to explore its underlying neurobiological and social psychological mechanisms will provide stronger evidence for developing personalized intervention strategies.