Abstract
The notion that sport facilitates the development of important assets that youth can use to maximize their development is widely supported; however, researchers have recently begun exploring whether this concept has application with seniors (Baker, Fraser-Thomas, Dionigi & Horton, 2010). Using a modified version of the Developmental Assets Profile (search-institute.org), this study examined whether older adults who participate in Masters sport (n=32) reported greater assets than a comparison group of healthy but non-active older adults (n=20). Athletes reported higher scores than non-athletes for all categories of assets with statistically significant differences for four of eight asset categories; support, boundaries and expectations, constructive use of time, commitment to learning. In addition, the category of social competencies approached significance (p = .07). Analyses also indicated differences between athlete and non-athlete groups on the contextual areas with athletes reporting statistically higher scores on social and family sub-scales with the community sub-scale approaching significance (p = .06). These findings suggest that the benefit of sport participation for the acquisition of developmental assets is not limited to youth. Moreover, participation in Masters sport may provide an avenue for the acquisition of assets to assist older adults as they navigate the aging process.Acknowledgments: Funded by Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada