G5 Doctoral dissertation (article)
Sports club participation patterns from adolescence to emerging adulthood : their determinants and relationships with lifestyle habits and life status (2025)
Liikuntaseuraosallistumisen muutosryhmät nuoruudesta varhaisaikuisuuteen : niiden selittäjät ja yhteydet elämäntapoihin ja elämäntilanteeseen
Rinta-Antila, K. (2025). Sports club participation patterns from adolescence to emerging adulthood : their determinants and relationships with lifestyle habits and life status [Doctoral dissertation]. University of Jyväskylä. JYU Dissertations, 869. https://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-86-0462-4
JYU authors or editors
Publication details
All authors or editors: Rinta-Antila, Katja
eISBN: 978-952-86-0462-4
Journal or series: JYU Dissertations
eISSN: 2489-9003
Publication year: 2025
Number in series: 869
Number of pages in the book: 1 verkkoaineisto (108 sivua, 36 sivua useina numerointijaksoina, 3 numeroimatonta sivua)
Publisher: University of Jyväskylä
Publication country: Finland
Publication language: English
Persistent website address: https://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-86-0462-4
Publication open access: Openly available
Publication channel open access: Open Access channel
Abstract
Sports club participation is popular as an organized leisure activity among young people in many European countries. Physical activity has health benefits, and sports club participants are more physically active than nonparticipants. However, sports club participation decreases as adolescents grow up. Among emerging adults, research focusing on changes in sports club participation and related factors has been scarce. Such research can assist in developing longer sports club participation in this transitional age. This cohort study explored sports club participation patterns and their determinants, plus associated lifestyle habits and life status indicators. It formed part of the Finnish Health Promoting Sports Club (FHPSC) study. Overall, 619 adolescents (of whom 72% were sports club participants at baseline) answered a health behaviour questionnaire at age 15 (years 2013–14) and at age 19 (years 2017–18). Chi-square tests and logistic regression analyses were carried out. The most prevalent pattern was dropout (41.0%), followed by maintainers (30.9%), nonparticipants (27.6%), and joiners (0.5%). Males were more likely than females to maintain their participation. Both maintainers and dropouts were more likely than nonparticipants to have an academic orientation. Starting the main sport by school age, competing nationally at top level, and aiming at competition in adulthood were more likely to lead to maintained participation than to dropping out. Among males, a coach who was active in health promotion was more related to maintained participation than to dropping out. Among females, maintainers had perceived continuous support for physical activity and sport from parents, while dropouts had perceived a decrease in such support. Furthermore, female and male maintainers were more likely to have healthy lifestyle habits (for example related to physical activity levels) than dropouts and nonparticipants. Currently, sports clubs tend to support participation especially among males and those who want to compete. Maintained sports club participation and healthy lifestyle habits in emerging adulthood could be advanced by more flexible options in combining sport and education, continuous parental support for sporting activities, and investing in coaches’ health promotion activity.
Keywords: young people; young adults; sports organisations; participation; effects (results); health behaviour; lifestyle; longitudinal research; cohort study; doctoral dissertations
Contributing organizations
Related projects
- Muutokset terveydessä, terveyskäyttäytymisessä, liikuntaaktiivisuudessa sekä passiivisessa ajanvietossa liikuntaseuratoimintaan osallistuvilla ja osallistumattomilla nuorilla- Terveyttä Edistävä Liikunta seura kohorttitutkimus
- Kokko, Sami
- Ministry of Education and Culture
- Diverging paths in physical activity and sports participation from adolescence to emerging adulthood: the Health Promoting Sports Club cohort study
- Kokko, Sami
- Ministry of Education and Culture
Related research datasets
Ministry reporting: Yes
VIRTA submission year: 2025