The transition to adulthood: a game changer!? A longitudinal analysis of the impact of five major life events on sport participation

Figures & data

Table 1. Description of all variables.

	Descriptive statistics based on the total sample used for the analyses of number of sports and sport frequency															Descriptive statistics based on the more restricted sample used for the analysis of switching from a club setting to a lighter setting or to not practising sport at all
	Wave 1					Wave 2					Change between w1 and w2					Wave 1					Wave 2					Change between w1 and w2
	N	Min.	Max.	Mean/Perc.	SD	N	Min.	Max.	Mean/Perc.	SD	N	Min.	Max.	Mean/Perc.	SD	N	Min.	Max.	Mean/Perc.	SD	N	Min.	Max.	Mean/Perc.	SD	N	Min.	Max.	Mean/Perc.	SD
Number of sports Practised in the past 12 months	2317	0.0	10.0	2.2	1.8	2317	0.0	10.0	2.1	1.7	2317	−10.0	10.0	−0.1	1.8	522	1.0	10.0	3.2	1.8	522	0.0	10.0	2.8	1.7	522	−7.0	7.0	−0.3	2.0
Sport frequency Per month	2317	0.0	40.0	4.6	4.3	2317	0.0	40.0	4.6	4.3	2317	−40.0	40.0	0.1	4.7	522	0.5	30.0	7.0	4.0	522	0.0	40.0	6.3	4.4	522	−15.0	27.5	−0.7	4.6
Sport setting
Club setting	536			23.1%		470			20.3%		−66			−2.8%		522			100.0%		275			52.7%		−247			−47.3%
Commercial/alternative setting	581			25.1%		563			24.3%		−18			−0.8%		0			0.0%		82			15.7%		82			15.7%
Informal group setting	418			18.0%		384			16.6%		−34			−1.5%		0			0.0%		64			12.3%		64			12.3%
Individual setting (alone)	360			15.5%		516			22.3%		156			6.7%		0			0.0%		73			14.0%		73			14.0%
Not practising sport at all	422			18.2%		384			16.6%		−38			−1.6%		0			0.0%		28			5.4%		28			5.4%
Major life events
Educational domain
In full-time education	543			23.4%		286			12.3%							192			36.8%		112			21.5%
not in full-time education	1774			76.6%		2031			87.7%		257			11.1%		330			63.2%		410			78.5%		80			15.3%
Employment domain
Not working >32 hours a week	1520			65.6%		1303			56.2%							332			63.6%		281			53.8%
Working >32 hours a week	797			34.4%		1014			43.8%		217			9.4%		190			36.4%		241			46.2%		51			9.8%
Relationship domain
Single	696			30.0%		480			20.7%							204			39.1%		135			25.9%
In a relationship	1621			70.0%		1837			79.3%		216			9.3%		318			60.9%		387			74.1%		69			13.2%
Civil/marital domain
Not cohabiting/not married	885			38.2%		681			29.4%							260			49.8%		199			38.1%
Cohabiting/married	1432			61.8%		1636			70.6%		204			8.8%		262			50.2%		323			61.9%		61			11.7%
Parental domain
Non-parent	1056			45.6%		900			38.8%							305			58.4%		267			51.1%
Parent	1261			54.4%		1417			61.2%		156			6.7%		217			41.6%		255			48.9%		38			7.3%
Controls
Female	2317			54.3%		2317			54.3%							522			43.3%		522			43.3%
Immigrant	2317			38.8%		2317			38.8%							522			29.5%		522			29.5%
Age	2317	14.0	49.0	31.7	9.3	2317	19.4	53.0	36.0	9.2	2317	2.1	6.9	4.2	1.0	522	14.0	49.0	29.0	10.2	522	19.4	53.0	33.1	10.1	522	2.1	6.6	4.1	1.0
Educational level (highest)	2317	4.0	16.5	11.0	3.2	2317	4.0	16.5	11.7	3.1	2317	0.0	12.5	0.8	1.6	522	6.0	16.5	11.3	3.0	522	6.0	16.5	12.2	2.9	522	0.0	8.5	0.9	1.7

Table 2. The effects of major life events on the number of sports and sport frequency.

	Number of sports^a		Sport frequency^b
	Exp(B)	sig.^c	Exp(B)	sig.^c
Major life events^d
Educational domain
Not in full-time education vs. in full-time education^e	0.599	0.000***	0.550	0.000***
Leaving full-time education^f	0.891	0.049*	0.819	0.003**
Employment domain
Working vs. not working (>32 hours a week)^e	0.950	0.166	0.913	0.064+
Beginning work (>32 hours a week)^f	0.932	0.290	0.838	0.015*
Relationship domain
In a relationship vs. single^e	0.933	0.072+	0.861	0.004**
Entering an intimate relationship^f	0.882	0.048*	0.848	0.023*
Civil/Marital domain
Cohabiting/married vs. not cohabiting/not married^e	0.870	0.000***	0.817	0.000***
Starting to cohabit/getting married^f	0.895	0.101	0.825	0.011*
Parental domain
Parent vs. non-parent^e	0.842	0.000***	0.764	0.000***
Becoming a parent^f	0.808	0.007**	0.770	0.003**

Source: NELLS wave 1 (2009) and wave 2 (2013); N = 2.317.

^aMixed-effects Poisson regression analyses.

^bMixed-effects negative binomial regression analyses.

^c+p < .10; *p < .05; **p < .01; ***p < .001 (two-tailed).

^dWe examined the influence of each event in a separate analysis, in which we controlled for gender, ethnicity, age (between-person differences), and ageing (within-person changes).

^eBetween variable: Exp(B) = estimate of the between-person effect of the event, thus reflecting interpersonal differences.

^fWithin variable: Exp(B) = estimate of the within-person effect of the event, thus reflecting changes within individuals.

Table 3. Descriptive statistics of the sport setting in wave 2, for individuals who practised sport (mostly) in a club setting in the first wave and experienced different major life events between wave 1 and wave 2.

Wave 2	Club setting (did not switch or stop)	Commercial/ alternative setting	Informal group setting	Individual setting (alone)	Not practising sport at all
Respondents who in wave 1
Practised sport mostly in a club setting (100%; N = 522)	52.7%	15.7%	12.3%	14.0%	5.4%
And between wave 1 and 2
Left full-time education (15.3%; N = 80)	51.3%	10.0%	15.0%	17.5%	6.3%
Started working (>32 hours a week) (9.8%; N = 51)	64.7%	11.8%	2.0%	13.7%	7.8%
Entered an intimate relationship (13.2%; N = 69)	44.9%	17.4%	10.1%	18.8%	8.7%
Started cohabiting/got married (14.2%; N = 4)	52.7%	9.5%	16.2%	14.9%	6.8%
Became a parent (7.3%; N = 38)	55.3%	7.9%	15.8%	13.2%	7.9%

Source: NELLS wave 1 (2009) and wave 2 (2013); N = 522.

Table 4. Effects of major life events on the odds of switching from practising sport in a club setting to practising sport in a light (commercial/alternative, group or individual) setting or not practising sport at all, versus continuing practising sport in a club setting.

Switching from practising sport (mostly) in a club setting to	Commercial/alternative setting^a		Informal group setting^a		Individual setting (alone)^a		Not practising sport at all^a
	Exp(B)	sig.^b	Exp(B)	sig.^b	Exp(B)	sig.^b	Exp(B)	sig.^b
Major life events^c
Educational domain
Continued full-time education	ref.		ref.		ref.		ref.
Left full-time education	0.423	0.076+	1.109	0.822	1.724	0.253	0.869	0.843
Already left full-time education in wave 1	0.614	0.330	0.974	0.962	0.785	0.670	0.442	0.318
Employment domain
Not working (>32 hours a week)	ref.		ref.		ref.		ref.
Started working (>32 hours a week)	0.596	0.286	0.094	0.022*	0.893	0.809	1.454	0.550
Continued working (>32 hours a week)	0.709	0.345	0.544	0.129	1.080	0.834	0.876	0.816
Relationship domain
Stayed single	ref.		ref.		ref.		ref.
Entered an intimate relationship	1.404	0.431	0.909	0.847	2.899	0.024*	3.175	0.070+
Continued an intimate relationship	0.685	0.308	0.937	0.869	1.305	0.537	0.618	0.412
Civil/marital domain
Not cohabiting/married	ref.		ref.		ref.		ref.
Started cohabiting/got married	0.527	0.171	1.423	0.398	1.074	0.868	1.418	0.569
Continued cohabitation/marriage	0.694	0.360	1.257	0.626	0.906	0.816	0.898	0.859
Parental domain
Stayed childless	ref.		ref.		ref.		ref.
Became a parent	0.430	0.204	1.212	0.717	0.705	0.522	1.353	0.676
Already a parent in wave 1	0.882	0.767	1.017	0.972	0.501	0.090+	0.871	0.828

Source: NELLS wave 1 (2009) and wave 2 (2013); N = 522.

^aMultinomial logistic regression analysis; Reference category = continuing sport participation (mostly) in a club setting.

^b+p < .10; *p < .05 (two-tailed).

^cWe examined the influence of each event in a separate analysis, in which we controlled for gender, ethnicity, age, educational level, and number of sports.