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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Sports Act. Living
Sec. Physical Education and Pedagogy
Volume 7 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fspor.2025.1499693
This article is part of the Research Topic Sport Practice and Physical Activity - The Social Function of Sport in Contemporary Societies View all 5 articles

The key roles of teammates, coaches, and instrumental support in adolescent sports participation: a one-year prospective study

Provisionally accepted
Gwennyth E. Spruijtenburg Gwennyth E. Spruijtenburg 1*Femke Van Abswoude Femke Van Abswoude 1Sebastiaan Platvoet Sebastiaan Platvoet 2Mark De Niet Mark De Niet 2Bert Steenbergen Bert Steenbergen 1
  • 1 Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University, Nijmegen, Netherlands
  • 2 HAN University of Applied Sciences, Nijmegen, Netherlands

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Sports participation is important for promoting lifelong health and well-being. However, it often declines during adolescence, highlighting the need to understand the factors related to adolescent sports participation. This prospective study examines the associations between different sources (e.g. family, peers, coaches, teachers) and types (e.g. emotional, instrumental, co-participation) of social support and hours of organized sports participation among secondary school students (N = 294). It also explores whether these associations change from the second to the third year of secondary education. Data were collected using questionnaires and anthropometric measurements in October/November 2021 and October/November 2022. Multilevel linear fixed effects regression models were used to analyze relationships between sources and types of social support and sports participation. Additionally, scatterplots illustrated individual variability in these associations. Results showed significant associations for various sources and types of social support with organized sports participation. Social support from teammates and coaches and instrumental support emerged as the strongest predictors of hours of participation. Additionally, we found that the relationships remained stable over time. Yet, substantial individual variability in how social support related to sports participation was also observed. These findings emphasize the importance to promote social support from within the sports environment and to encourage instrumental support. Tailored approaches addressing individual differences are recommended to enhance adolescent sports participation.

    Keywords: Organized sports, Youth, social support, sources of support, types of support, longitudinal design

    Received: 21 Sep 2024; Accepted: 06 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Spruijtenburg, Van Abswoude, Platvoet, De Niet and Steenbergen. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Gwennyth E. Spruijtenburg, Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University, Nijmegen, 6525, Netherlands

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