Breaking the cycle: longitudinal analysis of impulsivity and antisocial behavior in athletes—exploring gender-invariant mechanisms and intervention potentials

Background The relation between impulsivity and antisocial behavior are central themes in sport-related research with potential theoretical links, yet surprisingly there has been no longitudinal work on this topic. This three-wave longitudinal study aimed to explore the reciprocal relations between impulsivity and antisocial behavior in basketball, football, track and field, and table tennis ( n = 338) athletes. To better reflect the process of trait stability over time, this study employed random intercept cross-lagged modeling (RI-CLPM) to account for within-person variability. Results from the RI-CLPM indicated that impulsivity significantly predicted antisocial behavior over time (e.g., β = 0.283, p < 0.01), with the model demonstrating a good fit (χ² = 25.12, df = 9, CFI = 0.990, RMSEA = 0.073). The reciprocal effect of antisocial behavior on impulsivity was also observed, though it weakened over time. This indicates that athletes, both male and female, who struggle to control their impulsivity show increased antisocial behavior. Interventions designed to increase the effectiveness of impulse control may therefore decrease such behavior. Crucially, individual differences were found to play an important role in the stability of impulsive and antisocial behavior, with implications for interventions tailored to violent sport contexts, given both the situational conditions that are most likely to change from one interaction to another as well as dispositional characteristics, particularly among male athletes. The findings suggest that interventions targeting impulse control—such as emotion regulation training or cognitive-behavioral strategies—may help reduce antisocial behavior and promote sportsmanship in both male and female athletes. In conclusion, the longitudinal nature of this study shows that impulsivity and antisocial behavior have complex interactions over time in a sample of adult athletes, whose behavioral tendencies may reflect traits commonly associated with early-life self-regulation difficulties. These relationships should be investigated further, with a potential focus on specific moderating factors such as situational and interpersonal dynamics within sports teams that may shape the interplay of impulsivity with antisocial behavior.