An ecological approach to sources of enjoyment in young female athletes

The present study used a bioecological approach to examine the influence of personal characteristics (maturity status), process (accumulated deliberate practice), and contextual factors (including age group, competition level, sport type, and state) on the variation of sources of enjoyment among young female athletes. We also explored the effect of the dynamic interactions of time with personal characteristics and process (chronological age, menarche age, and years of accumulated deliberate practice in a specific sport). We considered 243 young female athletes (171 basketball players, and 72 volleyball players) aged, on average, 15.0 years (ranging from 10.1 to 19.7 years). Repeated measures were collected from a sub-sample of 84 athletes (41 basketball players, 43 volleyball players) aged, on average, 14.0 years (ranging from 11.5 to 18.1 years) at baseline, across competitive seasons during the survey period to fully operationalize the bioecological approach. Age group, menarche status, onset of specialization, competitive level, sport, state, and self-reported measures of sources of enjoyment, using the Sources of Enjoyment in Youth Sports Questionnaire (SEYSQ), were recorded. We used Bayesian hierarchical models to model the responses of the players in the SEYSQ. The young female athletes mainly agreed (response 5 in the Likert-like scale) with the statements in each factor of the SEYSQ. There was no variation in the responses by SEYSQ factors associated with process (onset of specialization), person (menarcheal status), and context (age group, sport, competitive level, and state), when considering the cross-sectional data. When aligning the three chronosystems (chronological age, menarche age, and accumulated sport-specific deliberate practice), it was possible to identify the importance of the sport context to the changes in the sources of enjoyment across the development of young Brazilian female athletes between 12 and 18 years. Overall, our findings underscore the necessity of incorporating time in ecological approaches to youth sports research through a repeated-measures design to properly operationalize the bioecological approach. The results of the present study do not support the argument that early specialization may lead to low enjoyment and consequent compromise in commitment and sustained participation in youth sports programs.