Motivation Differences between Youth Single-Sport, Multi-Sport, and Single-Sport Specialized Athletes in the Western United States

The motivation for youth sport involvement may differ for single-sport (non-specialists), multi-sport, and single-sport specialized athletes. To investigate differences between adolescent single-sport athletes (NSSA), multi-sport athletes (MSA), and single-sport specialized athletes (SSSA) on measures of sport enjoyment and motivation. A secondary aim was to compare these variables between age groups. Adolescent sport participants in 6th, 7th, and 8th grade from the Western United States (n=306, age=13.0±1.0 yrs) completing the Sources of Enjoyment in Youth Sport Questionnaire (SEYSQ) that assesses sport enjoyment in the subscales of self-referenced competency (SRC), other-referenced competency and recognition (ORCR), effort expenditure (EE), competitive excitement (CE), affiliation with peers (AP), and positive parental involvement (PPI). The participants also reported their age, gender, grade, years of sport participation and sport status (NSSA, MSA, SSSA). SSSA reported significantly more enjoyment in all subscales except PPI when compared to NSSA (p<0.05; ES 0.4 – 0.99). MSA and SSSA showed significant differences in the subscales of SRC and EE; however, effect size was small (0.37 and 0.33, respectively). Overall scores for intrinsic and extrinsic motivation were significantly lower among NSSA compared to MSA and SSSA (p<0.01) with no differences between MSA and SSSA (p>0.05). Results revealed no significant differences in the SEYSQ’s subscales for age (p>0.05). Within the parameters of this study, adolescents that specialize in a single sport or those who compete in multiple sport both rely on intrinsic and extrinsic sources of enjoyment for motivation in very similar ways; whereas adolescent NSSA are less motivated and experience less enjoyment from sport participation compared to MSA and SSSA. Keywords: adolescent, enjoyment, SEYSQ, motivation, sport psychology