Investigate and Comparison of Mental Hygiene and Educational Performance of Athletic and non - Athletic high school students

The aim of this study was the investigation and the comparison of the third-grade athletic and non-athletic high school students’ mental hygiene and educational performance in Marvdasht city. The research method was descriptive (ex-post facto).The population of the study included all athletic and non-athletic male and female third-grade high school students of Marvdasht city out of which 100 athletic and 100 non-athletic were selected as the sample, using the stratified sampling strategy. The data of this study was collected through two instruments: educational performance test (Fam & Taylor) as well as Goldberg & Hilliermental hygiene questionnaire. The data of the study were analyzed via applying both descriptive statistical methods (mean and standard deviation) and inferential statistical procedures (independent T-test and Analysis of Variance). The results of the study showed a meaningful difference between educational performance and mental hygiene in the athletic and non-athletic participants of the study. Further, there was no difference between the educational performance level of athletic and non-athletic students. Meanwhile, there was no difference between the mental hygiene levels of athletic and non-athletic students. Thus, it was concluded that ‘sport’ as an important variable could have a positive effect on the educational performance and mental hygiene of students, and that physical education curricula should be considered with greater emphasis.