The determinant factors of the adjustment to school athletic clubs

Abstract

The purpose of this study was: 1) to clarify the determinant factors of the adjustment to school athletic clubs 2) to develop a means of measuring adjustment to school athletic clubs and 3) to examine the relative significance of the factors from a developmental point of view. The subjects were 671 junior high school students, 462 high school students and 515 university students participating in school athletic clubs and they composed three age grops. Concerning 64 items related to adjustment feeling, all the subjects were asked to rate their feeling on 7-point scales. principal factor solution method with normal varimax rotation; ANOVA and multiple regression analysis were applied to analyze the data. The main findings were as follows: 1) Five factors which were named "self-competence in the club (FAC1)", "cognition of leader and leader's management (FAC2)", "restriction/restraint feeling (FAC3)", "commitment to the sport and the club (FAC4)" and "cognition of the team mates (FAC5)" respectively, were clarified as the determinant factors of the adjustment to school athletic clubs. 2) A 42-item self-report scale, yeilding indices of five aspects of adjustment as well as a summarized adjustment feeling score, was developed. Both reliability and validity of the scale were assured, and the scale was considered to be an adequate means of measuring adjustment to school athletic clubs. 3) In each of three groups of subjects, the 5 factors were different in the strength of relative significance, and the order of its strength were different among the subject groups, as follows: In the junior high school student group, FAC4&gtFAC2&gtFAC1&gtFAC3&gtFAC5, in the high school student group, FAC3&gtFAC1&gtFAC5&gtFAC4&gtFAC2, and in the university student group,FAC5&gtFAC1≧FAC3&gtFAC4&gtFAC2.