Structural and individual factors of sports participation of youth – a comparison between German and French-speaking municipalities in Switzerland

Sports participation differs considerably depending on the linguistic region in Switzerland. The German-speaking population shows a higher sports activity than French or Italian-speaking citizens (Lamprecht, Fischer, & Stamm, 2014). This study analyses how different structural conditions in the municipalities and sports-related orientations of individuals across the German and French-speaking regions of Switzerland correlate with sports participation of adolescents and young adults. In order to identify possible structural factors, municipal sports leaders (n = 36) in German and French-speaking municipalities were surveyed. In addition, sports providers (n = 294) completed an online questionnaire about their sports offer. Individual factors pertaining to adolescents and young adults, were collected through an online survey of the 15- to 30-year-old population (N = 4'039, Mage = 21.5, SDage = 4.64). Sports participation is significantly higher in German-speaking municipalities (84%) compared to French-speaking municipalities (76.2%) (χ2 (1, N = 4039) = 33.058, p< .001). Moreover, adolescents and young adults of French-speaking municipalities are less satisfied with the local sports offer (t(3058)= 6.386, p< .001) and the sports infrastructure (t(3218) = 7.104, p< .001). Inhabitants of German-speaking municipalities give more importance to their body appearance (t(3700) = 7.124, p< .05) and are less ashamed for their bodies during sports activities (t(3691) = -5.098., p < .05). These findings show that structural conditions in municipalities as well as the youth's individual perception and individual sports-related orientations may be relevant for the sports participation of adolescents and young adults.