Playing Teen Sports May Protect From Some Damages Of Childhood Trauma
For teens who've experienced childhood trauma, playing team sports may help them avoid depression and anxiety later in life. But the cost of teen sports puts them out of reach for many could benefit.
As a kid, Molly Easterlin loved playing sports. She started soccer at age four, and then in high school, she played tennis and ran track. Sports, Easterlin believes, underlie most of her greatest successes. They taught her discipline and teamwork, helped her make friends and enabled her to navigate the many challenges of growing up.
When Easterlin became a pediatrician, she started seeing a lot of kids suffering from trauma, from physical abuse to emotional neglect. Many of these kids didn't respond fully to traditional treatment for trauma and depression. Frustrated and searching for answers, Easterlin turned to her own past. "I suspected that sports might have
