A Longitudinal Assessment of the Impact of Biological Maturity and Menarche on Adolescents’ Organized Sport and Physical Activity Participation

Introduction

Processes accompanying growth and maturation are known to impact physical activity (PA) participation among adolescents. This study evaluated the longitudinal impact of these processes on organized sport participation and moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) among male and female adolescents.

Methods

This study used secondary analysis of data from a longitudinal cohort of 6639 adolescents (Age = 12.92 ± 0.81 years; Males = 3302; Females = 3226) collected using confidential, online self-report surveys through the Health4Life Study across 71 secondary schools in Australia from 2019 to 2022. Controlling for age, socioeconomic status, and state, mixed effects regression models assessed the impact of pubertal stage, relative pubertal timing, and period status (female adolescents only) on organized individual and team sports and MVPA participation.

Results

While organized sport and MVPA participation reduced over time for all participants, male and female adolescents responded differently to puberty. Male adolescents showed marginally greater likelihood of participation in organized team sport during early puberty and individual sport during late puberty, but female adolescents significantly reduced individual sport participation during middle, late, and postpubertal stages. Relative pubertal timing did not impact male adolescents, but early maturing female adolescents were significantly less likely to participate in organized team and individual sports. Achieving menarche was linked to lower odds of individual sport participation only.

Conclusions

Declining PA participation rates suggest that adolescents may need support for maintaining PA. Disparate effects of puberty in male and female adolescents advocate for separate approaches based on their specific characteristics. Future research should explore the impact of specific sport environment characteristics and menstrual cycle experiences on PA.