Abstract
BackgroundMuch research has been conducted into the determinants of physical activity (PA) participation among adolescent girls. However, the more specific question of what are the determinants of particular forms of PA participation, such as the link between participation through a sports club, has not been investigated. Accordingly, the aim of this study was to investigate the relationships between participation in a sports club and socio-economic status (SES), access to facilities, and family and peer support, for female adolescents.MethodsA survey of 732 female adolescent school students (521 metropolitan, 211 non-metropolitan; 489 Year 7, 243 Year 11) was conducted. The survey included demographic information (living arrangements, ethnicity indicators, and indicators of SES such as parental education and employment status and locality); access to facilities; and family and peer support (travel, encouragement, watching, praise, joint participation). For each characteristic, sports club participants and non-participants were compared using chi-square tests. Multiple mediation analyses were used to investigate the role of access, family and peer support in the link between SES and sport participation.ResultsThere were significant associations (p<0.05) between sports club participation and: all demographic characteristics; all measures of family and peer support; and access to sport-related facilities. Highest levels of participation were associated with monolingual Australian-born families, with two parents, at least one of whom was well-educated, with both parents employed, and high levels of parental assistance, engagement and support. Participation in club sport among both younger and older adolescent girls was significantly positively associated with the SES of both their neighbourhoods and their households, particularly in metropolitan areas. These associations were most strongly mediated by family support and by access to facilities.ConclusionsTo facilitate and promote greater participation in club sport among adolescent girls from low SES neighbourhoods and households, strategies should target modifiable determinants such as facility access and parental support. This will involve improving access to sports facilities and promoting, encouraging and assisting parents to provide support for their daughters’ participation in sport clubs.
Highlights
Much research has been conducted into the determinants of physical activity (PA) participation among adolescent girls
This study investigated adolescent girls in two age ranges living in two types of geographical location, and found that club sport participation was a popular form of leisure time PA, among younger girls and in rural and regional areas
With regard to mediation of the relationships between measures of socio-economic status (SES) (SEIFA Index of Relative Socio-economic Advantage and Disadvantage (IRSAD) of home postcode, education level and employment status of parents/caregivers) and club membership, we found that access to facilities, family support and peer support were all mediators of the associations between particular aspects of SES and club membership
Summary
Much research has been conducted into the determinants of physical activity (PA) participation among adolescent girls. In socio-ecological terms, socio-economic status (SES) has aspects of the intrapersonal (e.g. education level, employment status and income of the individual), interpersonal (e.g. education level, employment status and income of parents or caregivers) and environmental (e.g. profiles of education level, employment status and income for neighbourhoods as a whole). Another important SES-related environmental factor is access to facilities, which in turn has various aspects including levels of provision (presence), geographical accessibility (proximity) and affordability
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