A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal
Student Athletes' Causal Attributions for Sport and School Achievement in Relation to Sport Dropout and Grade Point Average
Authors: Saarinen Milla, Bertram Raymond, Aunola Kaisa, Pankkonen Julia, Ryba Tatiana V
Publisher: Human Kinetics
Publication year: 2023
Journal: Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology
Journal acronym: JSEP
Volume: 45
Issue: 1
First page : 15
Last page: 25
eISSN: 1543-2904
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1123/jsep.2022-0115
Web address : https://doi.org/10.1123/jsep.2022-0115
Self-archived copy’s web address: https://jyx.jyu.fi/bitstream/123456789/85820/2/Causal%20attributions%20for%20sport%20and%20school.pdf
The present study longitudinally examined stability and change in the attributional profiles of Finnish student athletes (n = 391) in upper secondary sport schools. Moreover, it examined the extent to which these profiles, and changes in them, were associated with athletes’ level of sport competition and school achievements and dropouts at the end of upper secondary sport school. Using latent profile analysis, five different and highly stable attributional profiles were identified for student athletes: (a) depressive (6.9%), (b) athletic self-serving (23.0%), (c) average (16.4%), (d) learned helplessness (30.9%), and (e) responsible (22.8%). The results further showed that over the 3-year study period, the responsible attributional style, wherein individuals take responsibility for successes and failures, predicted student athletes’ subsequent high grade point average and low sport dropout rates even after controlling for the impacts of their earlier grade point average, gender, and type of sport.