Understanding participation in sport and physical activity among children and adults: a review of qualitative studies.

By S. Allender, G. Cowburn, C. Foster. Health Education Research, 2006

1,259 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Qualitative research may be able to provide an answer as to why adults and children do or do not participate in sport and physical activity. This paper systematically examines published and unpublished qualitative research studies of UK children's and adults' reasons for participation and non-participation in sport and physical activity. The review covers peer reviewed and gray literature from 1990 to 2004. Papers were entered into review if they: aimed to explore the participants' experiences of sport and physical activity and reasons for participation or non-participation in sport and physical activity, collected information on participants who lived in the United Kingdom and presented data collected using qualitative methods. From >1200 papers identified in the initial search, 24 papers met all inclusion criteria. The majority of these reported research with young people based in community settings. Weight management, social interaction and enjoyment were common reasons for participation in sport and physical activity. Concerns about maintaining a slim body shape motivated participation among young girls. Older people identified the importance of sport and physical activity in staving off the effects of aging and providing a social support network. Challenges to identity such as having to show others an unfit body, lacking confidence and competence in core skills or appearing overly masculine were barriers to participation.

Subfields: Developmental and Educational Psychology, Physical Therapy, Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation, Sociology and Political Science

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/a0a95b8b96aa533fecf198ae8c82e8ec8c6c5cf9

How researchers see this paper

The researchers whose trusted networks rank it highest, strongest advocate first. Every researcher gets a different order.

In Developmental and Educational Psychology

1. D. Collins
2. Richard Bailey *
3. L. Gano-Overway
4. Mary D. Fry
5. Á. Macnamara

In Physical Therapy, Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation

1. Á. Macnamara
2. D. Collins
3. Richard Bailey *
4. Gemma Pearce

In Sociology and Political Science

1. Richard Bailey *
2. Vicente J. Beltrán-Carrillo
3. J. Devís-Devís
4. C. Peiró-Velert
5. David Brown

Citations in the corpus

• 2016 Consensus statement on return to sport from the First World Congress in Sports Physical Therapy, Bern (2016, neutral): “27 137 Future studies should seek to establish why some athletes do not RTS and if non-return is related to reasons for playing sport initially, and explore whether athletes are satis fi ed with their postinjury participation.”
• Life-course perspective for physical activity and sports participation (2011, background): “[38] found in their review of qualitative studies of motives and barriers that body shape and weight management are the important reasons behind the participation of girls in adolescence.”
• When Physical Activity Participation Promotes Inactivity (2012, background): “…to get an adequate educational practice environment because they tend to dominate games and activities and discriminate against the less skilful and less fit peers (Allender et al., 2006; Brooks & Magnusson, 2006; Ennis, 1996; Flintoff & Scraton, 2001; Garrett, 2004; Paechter, 2003; Portman, 1995).”
• Three Worlds: new directions in participant development in sport and physical activity (2012, background): “However, it is also worth considering the other factors which lead young people to desist from physical activity and conversely and more interestingly, the factors which seem to help them sustain engagement (Allender et al., 2006).”
• Designing sports: a framework for exertion games (2011, background): “The ability to maintain existing relationships while also being able to develop new social networks are two of the key benefits of participating in physical activity [1].”
• Exploring the Contribution of the Caring Climate to the Youth Sport Experience (2010, background): “Thus, researchers have spent considerable time understanding how the sport environment can provide enjoyment and encourage long-term participation as well as develop other benefits for youth sport participants ( Allender, Cowburn, & Foster, 2006 ; Weiss, 2000 ).”
• The association between social support and physical activity in older adults: a systematic review (2017, background): “Social interaction and enjoyment have been described as two key reasons for participating in sport or (leisure) physical activity in both children and adults [85].”