From the European Youth Olympics Festival to professional sport. The level of athlete dropout – a longitudinal cohort study
Year: 2025
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Background: Globally, the dropout rate among young athletes, which is influenced by a range of complex and interconnected factors, tends to rise significantly when adolescence starts. Objective: The present retrospective cohort study aimed to explore the characteristics and extent of dropout in youth sports in Hungary. Methods: We analysed the status of 409 athletes who participated in the summer editions of the European Youth Olympic Festival (EYOF) between 2009 and 2019, assessing their athletic status 5 years later. Specifically, we examined the associations between dropout rates and factors such as gender, types of sport and relative age quartiles. Results: Our findings reveal that dropout rates were higher in individual sports compared to team sports. Additionally, within individual sports, athletes born in the second age quartile had a slightly higher dropout rate, while those born in the third quartile experienced a slightly lower rate compared to the other quartiles. Conclusion: These insights contribute to a deeper understanding of the factors influencing dropout in youth sports.
Source: Frontiers in Psychology
Authors: Krisztina Kovács, Dorottya Pignitzky, Csaba Bartha, Johanna Takács
Institutions: Hungarian University of Sports Science, Semmelweis University
Language: English
Subfield: Developmental and Educational Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $3,801
OpenAlex ID: W4410037862