1. Objectifs

Intentions :
« The aim of this study was twofold. The first goal was to examine growth curves of participation over the high school years in sports, performance and fine arts, and youth clubs. The second goal was to identify individual, friend, and family factors likely to be associated with these growth curves. » (p. 301-302)

Questions/Hypothèses :
« We expected that school grades, best friends’ participation, and parent income, involvement, beliefs, and community involvement would be positively associated with youths’ participation. In contrast, we expected that depressive symptoms and problem behaviors would be negatively linked to their involvement. » (p. 291)

2. Méthode

Échantillon/Matériau :
« The current sample was drawn from a larger sample of youths who are part of a longitudinal study investigating adolescent social development (n=390). » (p. 292) 272 youths and their parents participated in the current study.

Instruments :
- Questionnaires
- Guide d’entretien semi-structuré (administré par téléphone)

Type de traitement des données :
Analyse statistique

3. Résumé

« In this study, we tested the hypothesis that youths’ participation in sports, performance and fine arts, and youth clubs across the high school years could be predicted by a series of individual, friend, and family factors measured before the transition to high school. This hypothesis was based on the assumption that youth activity participation is not a random phenomenon, but usually based on a voluntary decision. As a result, a better understanding of the individual and contextual factors that could impact youths’ decision to participate in such activities could yield useful information for promoting youth activity participation. » (p. 308) This study « […] revealed that the hours spent in sports, performance and fine arts, and youth clubs were rather stable over time. Moreover, individual, friend, and family factors all contributed to explain youth activity participation, mostly with respect to sports activities. Some of these effects were also moderated by youths’ gender. » (p. 302)