Participation, motivation, continuation

Thanks to Kristina for sending this article my way; I thought was an interesting new take on activity participation research that departs from the typical “activities lead to positive outcomes, blah blah blah”…. old news. The authors used some pretty nifty SEM modeling to look at how participation across a three-year period in elementary school predicted adolescent participation in the same activities, and how this relationship was moderated (or is it mediated?) by motivational beliefs. They used multiple indicators of participation in sports and music programs, including intensity, duration, and patterns of participation (did they participate consistently, or did they take up/drop out of the activity?). Lots of interesting results, but the take away messages are (get ready for a Rich-inspired numbered list/run on sentence): 1) activity participation in elementary school predicted higher self-concept of ability in that domain, which in turn predicted adolescent participation; 2) patterns of participation that include consistent participation predicted adolescent participation; and 3) youth are consistent in maintaining their orientation towards sports and/or music over time. Interesting thought, that part of the reason kids stay consistently engaged in activities over time is that their participation affects their own concept of ability, and perhaps this is part of the reason why participation leads to positive developmental outcomes.

9 out of 10 Jetts for conceptual creativity and slick methodology.