Youth Sport Participation, Injury History, and Current Physical Activity Among Young Adults

To examine the interaction between high school (HS) sports participation and injury history with current moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) among young adults. Participants ( = 236) were 18-25 years old, not currently injured, and reported no physical activity limitations. Participants completed online demographic, injury history, and physical activity surveys. A two-way analysis of covariance was used to test the interaction between HS athlete status and previous injury severity on current self-reported MVPA. Participants were 22.2 ± 2.1 years, primarily White (81.8%) or Asian (6.4%), and female (77.5%). After including body mass index and race as covariates, there was a statistically significant interaction between HS athlete status and previous injury history such that current MVPA was higher among former HS athletes compared to HS recreational/nonathletes when individuals reported no injuries or mild injury severity. MVPA was similar across athlete status groups when participants reported high levels of injury severity. Future studies should examine whether young adults who have experienced multiple and/or severe injuries as competitive HS athletes have unique physical activity barriers.