Abstract
The Long-Term Development in Sport and Physical Activity 3.0 framework guides the organization of sport in Canada. Evidence is required to support the framework’s assumption that a multisport approach in youth has positive outcomes on adult physical activity participation. Participants were 323 Canadian adults aged 18-60 (Mage = 32.92 years; SD = 12.51) who completed online questionnaires assessing quality sport experiences, personal meaning of sport participation and sport participation profiles at both age 12 and in adulthood. Those who engaged in a greater variety of activities at age 12 played sports for the challenge (r = .24, p = .001) and were likely to participate in a greater variety of activities in adulthood (r = .70, p = .001). Participants who valued sport for social bonding at age 12 participated in mostly unorganized activities where they could play with neighborhood friends (r = .16, p < .05), that relationship did not hold for adulthood when most adults participated in individual physical activities on their own. Those who participated in organized sport at age 12 were most likely to participate in organized sport in adulthood (r = .47, p = .001). Reasons for physical activity and sport participation shift from childhood to adulthood. What seems to be most important for determining physical activity participation in adulthood is having opportunities for sport participation during childhood that are good quality, supported by families, having friends who participate, and having choice in activity whether that is specialized or sport sampling.
