16 | Chapter 1 by major life events, as they oftenmark important life transitions and represent physical, psychological, social and/or economical changes in a person’s living situation (Bartley et al., 1997; Heikkinen, 2010; Hirvensalo & Lintunen, 2011; Tiessen-Raaphorst et al., 2010). Therefore, looking at major life events can provide tangible explanations for the relationship between sport activity and age (Breuer & Pawlowski, 2011), and investigating their impact is of major importance for making sense of differences and changes in sport participation over the life course (Haycock & Smith, 2018; Hirvensalo & Lintunen, 2011). Earlier research indicates that life events indeed affect sport participation (Allender et al., 2008; Engberg et al., 2012; Gropper et al., 2020; Hirvensalo & Lintunen, 2011). Yet, most of the studies assess the impact of major life events on physical activity. Gropper et al. (2020) extensively and thoroughly reviewed these studies, concluding that events that are primarily associated with decreases in physical activity are starting cohabitation, getting married, pregnancy, parenthood, school transitions, and entry into the labour market, whereas retirement is associated with increases in physical activity. However, in these studies it remains unclear if the findings are accurate for sport participation in particular. This is because sport participation is part of but not distinguishable from the physical activity assessment or not even accounted for in the measurement of physical activity, as studies focused on physical activity domains that include sport participation (e.g., leisure-time physical activity and total physical activity) or investigated other physical activity domains excluding sport participation (e.g., occupational physical activity, active commuting and transport, and domestic activities). Additionally, because earlier research focused on a great variety of different physical activity domains and intensities, findings are inconclusive or mixed and it is difficult to synthesize results in a differentiated, yet concise fashion (Gropper et al., 2020). Few previous studies related major life events to sport participation in particular (Allender et al., 2008; Engberg et al., 2012; Haycock & Smith, 2018; Hirvensalo & Lintunen, 2011). Seippel (2005) found that important reasons for ending organised sport are related to life events, like moving house, family and education. Living on one’s own and having young children was negatively associated with sport participation (Broek et al., 2010; Tiessen-Raaphorst et al., 2010). Humphreys & Ruseski (2009), Nomaguchi & Bianchi (2004) and Ruseski et al. (2011) found that marriage and having children are negatively associated with the time spent on practising sport. In addition, some studies revealed that marriage and having children negatively affect the decision to participate
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjY0ODMw