Enjoyment and Behavioral Intention Predict Organized Youth Sport Participation and Dropout

Dropout from organized youth sport has significant adverse health implications. Enjoyment and behavioral intentions have consistently been linked with participation and dropout; however, few studies have investigated these links using a prospective design. This study explored whether enjoyment and i...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of physical activity & health 2017-11, Vol.14 (11), p.861-865
Main Authors: Gardner, Lauren A, Magee, Christopher A, Vella, Stewart A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Behavior
Child
Child Behavior - psychology
Emotions
Female
Humans
Male
Participation
Prospective Studies
Sports - psychology
Student Dropouts - psychology
Surveys and Questionnaires
Youth Sports - trends
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Dropout from organized youth sport has significant adverse health implications. Enjoyment and behavioral intentions have consistently been linked with participation and dropout; however, few studies have investigated these links using a prospective design. This study explored whether enjoyment and intentions to continue predicted dropout behavior at 1-year follow-up. Questionnaires were completed by 327 regular sport participants (mean age = 13.01 y at baseline). After 1 year, 247 individuals (75.5%) continued participating in their main sport and 26 individuals (8%) dropped out. A hierarchical logistic regression model estimated the probability of dropout. In step 1, the following covariates were included: age, sex, competition level, perceived competence, parental support, coach-athlete relationship, friendship quality, and peer acceptance. In step 2, enjoyment and intentions to continue were included. Step 1 indicated that age, parental support, coach-athlete relationship quality, and peer acceptance were significantly associated with dropout. Step 2 explained further variance in dropout, with both enjoyment and intentions inversely associated with dropout. Peer acceptance was the only covariate to remain significantly associated with dropout in step 2. Findings support the use of enjoyment and behavioral intentions as indicators of sport participation/dropout behavior and may aid the development of interventions aimed at preventing future dropout.
ISSN:1543-3080
1543-5474
DOI:10.1123/jpah.2016-0572