Differences between adolescents staying in and dropping out of organized sport: A longitudinal study

Abstract

Problem Statement: Research show that participation in organised sport seems especially important in relation to several health factors. Unfortunately, dropout from organized sports increases during adolescence. Approach: Self-reported activity level and enjoyment in sports training and competitions were measured by questionnaire, and measures of weight, height and cardiorespiratory fitness, were collected among the same 76 adolescents each year from the age of 14 to the age of 19. Purpose: The aim of the study was to examine differences between adolescents who continue to participate in organized sport, and those who drop out according to some potential drop out factors from a longitudinal perspective. Results: Adolescents dropping out from sport have a lower cardiorespiratory fitness and lower level of well-being in sport taring and competition, than adolescents that continue to participate in organized sport. This finding is relatively stable according to time and sex. Furthermore, boys that drop out from sport have significantly lower height than adolescents that continue to participate in organized sport. Finally, the study partly support other research showing that adolescents that drop out from sport, have significantly lower physical activity level than adolescents that participate in organized sport at the age of 16. Conclusions: The findings point to the importance of organizing sport in a way that will not be depending on high levels of cardiorespiratory fitness and being tall to perform and feel well, and also to organize sport in a way that everyone achieve high levels of well-being at both sport training and sport competitions, to prevent drop out.