The role of collegiate sport experience in social adjustment and quality of college life: moderating role of the school year

ABSTRACTThis study aimed to establish a research model and investigate the relationships among collegiate sport experience, social adjustment, and quality of college life. In addition, this study examined the moderating effect of the school year on the impact of collegiate sport experience on social adjustment and quality of college life. A total of 271 college students from South Korea were collected using convenience sampling. Data analysis was conducted using partial least square structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) by SmartPLS 3.0. Results showed that collegiate sport experience positively influenced students’ social adjustment and quality of college life. Moreover, social adjustment positively affected the quality of college life. Also, this study identified that the school year positively moderated the impact of collegiate sport experience on both social adjustment and quality of college life. The findings provide implications for university administrators to offer various sport programmes and services to fulfil students’ needs and enhance their well-being.KEYWORDS: Collegiate sport experiencesocial adjustmentquality of college lifeschool yearPLS-SEMstudent involvement theory Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Additional informationNotes on contributorsWeisheng ChiuWeisheng Chiu is an Associate Professor and Department Head of Management and Strategy in the Lee Shau Kee School of Business and Adminstration at Hong Kong Metropolitan University. His research interests include sport management and adminstration in collegiate sports.Heetae ChoHeetae Cho is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sport Science at Sungkyunkwan University, South Korea. His research interests include sport psychology and well-being.Seungmo KimSeungmo Kim is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sport, Physical Education and Health at Hong Kong Baptist University. His research interests include organisational behaviour and human resource management.