León-Guereño Patxi, Galindo-Domínguez Héctor, Balerdi-Eizmendi Eneko, Rozmiarek Mateusz, Malchrowicz-Mośko Ewa
Faculty of Education and Sports, University of Deusto, Camino Mundaiz 50, 20012, San Sebastián, Basque Country, Spain.
Health, Physical Activity and Sports Science Laboratory (HealthPASS), Department of Physical Activity and Sports, Faculty of Education and Sports, University of Deusto, 48007, Bilbao, Spain.
BMC Sports Sci Med Rehabil. 2021 Oct 29;13(1):138. doi: 10.1186/s13102-021-00366-1.
Recreational running has greatly increased over the last decade, and different research has tried to understand the motivation that leads these amateur athletes to run. However, most research has focused on adult athletes, while the motivation behind older adult athletes has been overlooked.
The aim of this research was to analyse the motivational aspects of amateur runners aged over 50 years, and to consider the influence that years of practice, type of participation and some socio-demographical variables have on these older adults' motivation behind running. 244 older adult amateur athletes in total completed an online survey with the 56 items contained in the motivation of marathoners scales (MOMS), 108 of whom were female (44%), and 136 were male runners (56%). Athletes were asked about their years' running experience (< 1 year, 1-5 years, 6-10 years, > 10 years), their participation in running events (recreationally, half marathon, marathon, ultramarathon) and age (ranges 50-60, more than 60 years), gender (male, female), family life (whether in a relationship or not), and whether they had children (yes, no).
The results showed statistical differences in the nine MOMS dimensions in terms of years' running experience and participation in different running events. Moreover, older adult runners' gender and age subsequently showed statistical differences with five and six motivational factors respectively, while athletes that did not have children were more likely to run regarding competition and showing recognition. Family life did not show any statistical association with any of the dimensions on the scale in this population, while regression analyses showed that, mainly, years' running experience and participation were positively predicted, together with most motivational dimensions, while having children was negatively predicted in some of them.
This study showed that older adult runners' reasons for participating differ from those obtained in previous studies, especially regarding training experience and participation in events. Therefore, the older adult population should be specifically addressed.
在过去十年中，休闲跑步的人数大幅增加，不同的研究试图了解促使这些业余运动员跑步的动机。然而，大多数研究都集中在成年运动员身上，而老年成年运动员背后的动机却被忽视了。
本研究的目的是分析50岁以上业余跑步者的动机因素，并考虑练习年限、参与类型和一些社会人口统计学变量对这些老年人跑步动机的影响。共有244名老年成年业余运动员完成了一项在线调查，该调查包含马拉松运动员动机量表（MOMS）中的56个项目，其中108名是女性（44%），136名是男性跑步者（56%）。运动员被问及他们的跑步经验年限（<1年、1-5年、6-10年、>10年）、他们参加跑步赛事的情况（休闲跑、半程马拉松、马拉松、超级马拉松）以及年龄（50-60岁、60岁以上）、性别（男、女）、家庭生活（是否处于恋爱关系）以及是否有孩子（是、否）。
结果显示，在MOMS的九个维度上，跑步经验年限和参与不同跑步赛事方面存在统计学差异。此外，老年成年跑步者的性别和年龄随后分别在五个和六个动机因素上显示出统计学差异，而没有孩子的运动员在竞争和获得认可方面更有可能跑步。家庭生活与该人群量表上的任何维度均未显示出任何统计学关联，而回归分析表明，主要是跑步经验年限和参与度与大多数动机维度呈正相关，而在其中一些维度上，有孩子呈负相关。
本研究表明，老年成年跑步者的参与原因与先前研究中得到的不同，特别是在训练经验和赛事参与方面。因此，应该专门针对老年人群体进行研究。
