Staying active in sports during the transition from school to work: the role of social support in young adulthood

The transition from school to work is typically unfavourable for the sports participation of young adults. However, receiving social support might help young adults maintain their involvement in sports during this transition.

To test this proposition, the authors investigated whether social support from partners, family, friends and coworkers had a mitigating effect on the decline in sports frequency.

Using quasi-longitudinal data on 1040 young adults from the TRansition Into Active Living (TRIAL) survey, we find with fixed-effects panel regression models that the transition from full-time education to employment indeed negatively impacted weekly sports frequency.

This decline is mitigated by frequent experiences of social support for sports. Social support from friends and coworkers seemed especially important in alleviating the drop in sports frequency. Policy implications and avenues for future research are discussed.