Group cohesion and youth sport participation

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to examine adolescents' perceptions of cohesion in relation to their participation in sport and physical activity. Participants (N = 160; Mage = 14.97 years) took part in two testing sessions (Year 1 and Year 2) designed to gather information regarding their past year general activity levels (Aaron et al., 1995), specific sport involvement, and perceptions of cohesion within their main specified sport (Eys et al., 2009). Preliminary analyses revealed that social cohesion experienced in the first year was significantly correlated with the number of days per week participants engaged in their sport within each time period (ryear 1 = .32, ryear 2 = .20; p < .05). Further regression analyses were conducted to investigate the role of cohesion in predicting future activity levels. Overall, results revealed that perceptions of social cohesion in Year 1 (ß = .17, t = 2.05, p < .05) positively predicted the number of days per week athletes engaged in their sport in Year 2, R2adj =.04, F(2, 154) = 3.88, p < .05. Differences in relationships among study variables between males and females were also investigated. Findings demonstrated the importance of the social environment in sport during adolescence, and provide implications for continued participation in sport and physical activity.

Acknowledgments: Ministry of Research and Innovation, Province of Ontario