Differences In Sport Participation Research Articles

Sport Participation Across National Contexts: A Multilevel Investigation of Individual and Systemic Influences on Adult Sport Participation

Since multiple factors may impact adult levels and patterns of sport participation, this study utilized stages from Green's (2005) sport development theoretical model to examine the structural and individual factors that impact the sport experiences, patterns, and motives of both female and male adults in three different countries: the Netherlands (n=48), the United States of America (n=44), and the Republic of Korea (n=30). Asynchronous online focus groups using semi-structured questions assessed past and current sport participation, barriers and benefits to sport participation, and perceptions of sport delivery systems. The main themes that emerged related to adult sport participation were life-course and transitional dynamics, motivational differences, and sport delivery system impacts. While previous research has typically implicated individual-level factors for differences in sport participation the current study indicates that delivery system level factors are also critical. Systems that are more readily accessible or predictable and those that create social opportunities may be keys to increasing adult sport participation.

Changing associations of Australian parents' physical activity with their children's sport participation: 1985 to 2004

The socio-ecological milieu of children's physical activity is changing, perhaps causing perturbations within the causal 'web' that explains physical activity behaviours. It is unclear if the relative importance of parental role modelling is changing. Accordingly, this study examined associations of child-perceived parent physical activity and children's sport participation in 1985 and 2004. In 1985 (179 girls, 211 boys) and 2004 (210 girls, 218 boys), Australian schoolchildren (9-15 years) in the same eight schools were surveyed on sport participation and perceptions of parents' physical activity. In the 1985 sample, girls with active fathers played more sport. In 2004, boys and girls with active fathers or active mothers reported higher sport participation. In 1985, there were no differences in sport participation between those with both, either or neither parent active. In 2004, sport participation was highest among boys and girls with both parents active. These results underscore the current role of parents as socialising agents for physical activity. Intervention design should be founded on the most recent evidence of children's physical activity correlates.

Gender and age inequalities in regular sports participation: A cross-national study of 25 European countries

This article provides a unique opportunity to compare gender inequalities in sports participation across Europe, and the extent to which this varies by age using large, cross-sections of the population. The Eurobarometer Survey 62.0 (carried out in 2004 at the request of the European Commission and covering the adult population of 25 European member states, N = 23,909) was used to analyse differences in regular sports participation by gender and by age in the different countries. For the majority of countries, the occurrence of regular sporting activity was less than 40%. Additionally, binary logistic regression analyses identified significant gender differences in sports participation in 12 countries. In Belgium, France, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, Spain, and the UK, men were more likely to report being regularly active in sports than women, whereas in Denmark, Finland, Sweden, and the Netherlands the opposite was true. Moreover, the extent to which these gender inequalities differ by age varies considerably across countries. The results imply that: (i) in some European countries more efforts must be undertaken to promote the original goals of the Sport for All Charter, and (ii) to achieve more female participation in sports will require different policy responses in the diverse European member states.

Sports Participation during Adolescence: A Shift from Environmental to Genetic Factors

A twin design was used to assess the relative contribution of genetic and environmental influences on the variation in sports participation of Dutch male and female twins between the ages of 13 and 20 yr. Survey data from 2628 complete twin pairs were available (443 male and 652 female monozygotic twin pairs, 377 male and 434 female dizygotic twin pairs, and 722 opposite-sex twin pairs). Subjects were classified as participating in sports if they engaged in competitive or noncompetitive leisure-time sports activities with a minimal intensity of 4 METs for at least 60 min.wk. An overall main effect of age and sex was found on the sports participation dichotomy. Younger twins participated more in sports than older twins, and for each age group males participated more often than females. Genetic analyses of twin resemblance showed a shift in the factors contributing to sports participation from adolescence to adulthood. Between the ages of 13 and 16 yr, environmental factors shared by children from the same family largely account for individual differences in sports participation (78-84%), whereas genes are of no importance. At the age of 17-18 yr, genetic influences start to appear (36%), and the role of common environment decreases (47%). After the age of 18 yr, genes largely explain individual differences in sports participation (85%), and common environmental factors no longer contribute. Environmental factors shared by family members determine sports participation in young adolescence but cease to be of importance in adulthood when individual differences in sports participation are largely due to genetic variation.

Race and Gender Differences in Sport Participation as a Function of Self-Schema

The present investigation studied the influence of race and gender on sport and physical activity choices by regarding specific sport and physical activities as appropriate for participation or self-defining for race and gender groups. The study was designed to confirm the existence of self-schemata for sport and physical activities. A computer-generated instrument was employed to assess the existence and strength of self-schemata. Results of logistic regression analysis suggest that self-schemata for particular sport and physical activities indeed exist and certain schemata differ by race and/or gender. Understanding the dynamics of the development of selfschemata development and the influences of race and gender holds potential for a more comprehensive explanation of the disparity in sport and physical activity participation and performance.

English/Freneh Canadian Differences in Sport Participation: Comment on White and Curtis

This paper questions both the validity of the “value-differences thesis” put forward by White and Curtis as an explanation for differences in sport participation on the part of Canadian Anglophones and Francophones, and the inference of these authors that such hypothetical value-differences may better explain historical and contemporary inequalities between the two language groups than the alternative “conquest and discrimination” model. It is suggested that White and Curtis’ argument only stands up insofar as the discrimination model is not thoroughly discussed and tested. In particular the central role played by sports as a site in which social inequalities are structured and reinforced is not adequately taken into account by these authors.

Gender differences in sport involvement: Applying the eccles' expectancy-value model

Abstract With the growth of the field of sport psychology has come a growing interest and concern over gender differences in achievement and participation in various sports. Why do girls and boys differ from one another in their participation rates and participation patterns in sports? Over the past 10 years, Eccles and her colleagues have put together a theoretical model for analyzing the motivational factors underlying individuals' decisions regarding achievement-related choices. This paper describes this theoretical model and uses data from two studies, one focusing on adolescents, and one focusing on elementary school-aged children, to evaluate the utility of this model for understanding gender differences in sport participation. It reaches the following conclusions: (a) the Eccles et al. model holds for sport as well as, if not better than, it does for academic subjects; (b) gender differences in children's attitudes toward sport are quite strong and emerge at a very young age; and (c) these gender differences seem to be a consequence more of gender-role socialization than of “natural” aptitudinal differences.