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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Sports Act. Living
Sec. Sport Psychology
Volume 6 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fspor.2024.1230999

Identification of distinct physical activity profiles through adolescence: a longitudinal qualitative description study

Provisionally accepted
Mathieu Belanger Mathieu Belanger *
  • Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Canada

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

    We aimed to better understand longitudinal physical activity experiences among initially active adolescents and to identify and describe distinct physical activity profiles. A sample of 23 physically active participants [52% female; mean age=12.2 (0.6) years at study inception] were selected from the NAME_WITHDRAWN_FOR_REVIEW study to take part in this nested qualitative descriptive study.Participants were interviewed once a year for six years. Following individual-level analyses, profiles were identified based on similarity of longitudinal experiences. Four profiles captured participants' experiences: Independents (those who progressively seek activities that cater to their pursuit of autonomy); Multitaskers (those who participate in many different sports as an integral part of their lifestyle); Specialists (those who are dedicated to becoming the best they can be at one sport); Undecided (those who take part in physical activity to occupy time). The exploration of longitudinal physical activity experiences led to the identification of distinct profiles that could be targets for tailored interventions, theory development, and participation models.

    Keywords: Physical activity profiles, adolescence, Longitudinal qualitative description, sport participation, Motive for physical activity

    Received: 29 May 2023; Accepted: 01 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Belanger. 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: Mathieu Belanger, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Canada

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.